Konosuba: A Spartan's Adventure in this Wonderful World
by SabF24
Summary: The year is 2552, Reach has fallen. Like many other Spartans Aurdel-009 died in it's defense. But instead of being faced with the dark void of death he was met in a room by a blue haired Goddess. From there he was given a choice: Go to heaven, reincarnate on Earth or fight another enemy of humanity elsewhere. After all, how much could finishing one last fight hurt?
1. Chapter 1

...Situation Unknown...

Aurdel's head was spinning… What had happened? Where was he? His memory was foggy, he couldn't get a clear grip on the past he had to think. Slowly it came back to him. Moments before this he'd been on Reach, taking shelter within a subterranean bunker to avoid the Covenant's unending destruction. But he'd also done it to save the lives of two fellow Spartans, the only two surviving members of his team. During the battle they'd fled following the bombardment via MAC rounds of three Covenant CCS-class battlecruiser. Originally the plan was to leave the frontline and take a ship in orbit back to Earth, Pelican, callsign Ironfist, was sent to them for that purpose. But it was shot down mid flight and they were without any form of evac.

Given their severe injuries Aurdel had to carry the other two into the bunker, fighting waves of Covenant by himself on the way there. Once he did, he collapsed the shaft that led to the bunker and treated their wounds. He even transfused a large amount of his own blood to them to ensure that they wouldn't die. By the time he'd put both of them in cryo the only thing keeping him alive was his sheer force of will, then it gave out. He collapsed and fell unconscious on the floor,then presumably died. That, however, did not explain the situation he was in now. Because as for what now was…? He wasn't entirely sure.

He was seated in a chair, the kind of chair that you'd expect a Doctor to buy as an antique and put out in the waiting room of a clinic to show off. Opposed to him was another chair, one of mahogany with a tall back. A simple nightstand sat next to it. Then there was the room itself, if that was what it could really be called. The floor was a faded black and white checkered tile that stretched out for who knows how long into the distance. As for walls or a ceiling? There were none. Just a large stretch of empty darkness. Tiny motes of light hung in the air and drifted around softly, giving the appearance of fireflies that didn't care about their surroundings. This whole scene was rather… Serene.

"Hmm? Who might you be? You don't look like the people I usually see coming in from Japan," a voice said from behind him. He turned to face its origin. The voice had come from a beautiful blue haired woman, one with long hair, an outfit of a similar color palette and a large pink scarf draped over and around her. "Eh, I suppose it doesn't matter. If you're here then it means that you've died and that it's my responsibility to send you on your way." Perhaps he hadn't died yet, maybe his brain was just hallucinating this scenario as one last hurrah before he died. "My name is Aqua, I am the Goddess of water. But I am also responsible for taking those from Japan to the afterlife. Though, you don't exactly look Japanese. So what's your name? Because I need to know before we figure out what to do with you."

"My name is Aurdel Ganowicz."

"Kukuku, what kind of a name is that?" Was she laughing at him? Why would his mind choose to mock him in his last moments? "Well, 'Aurdel,' you have a few choices open to you, so I'll list them out. Your first choice is to be reincarnated in your world once more as a baby, starting a new life without your memories of the past." That didn't particularly interest him. There were too many memories of others that he didn't want to lose since they were still alive. He'd also seen first hand the horrors of the war and didn't want to live through them or have to fight them, so he was going to pass on that offer. "Your second choice is to go to Heaven, where you laze around in the sun all day and talk with people because it's all you can do. Personally I think it's boring since you have a body, so you can't even doing things like have sex or watch tv."

Those two things were VERY different so he didn't particularly understand why she'd chosen those things in specifically. It's not like it mattered to him anyways as they were two things he could really live without. He'd probably choose the second option, to go to heaven, since he wanted the peace and quiet he'd lacked for years now. "Sooo… There's a third option available to you! Ahem," Aqua cleared her throat, "Far away there exists another world, one of peace that finds itself threatened by the Demon King and his evil army. Innocent lives and their homes are trampled under his tyrannical rule and evil, because-"

"I refuse, I'm choosing to go to Heaven."

"Hey! At least let me finish you idiot. Look, if you really want me to cut to the chase so bad then I'll do it. We're able to send people like you-"

"NOT like me."

"-to that other world to try and defeat the Demon King. When you go there you're given a special power, weapon or piece of equipment then you're off. Once you do beat him you get one wish for anything granted to you."

"I'll pass."

"Eh?! Are you really that stupid? You could wish for something like a super sexy body, or-"

"I'll pass."

"But-"

"I said I'll pass."

"Listen here you shitty old man!" She jabbed her finger right up towards his visor. "We need someone to save that world and nobody has done it yet, so you're going to have to!"

"How about you listen?" He stood up, towering over her, and jabbed his finger in her face. "I've been fighting a war for the past twenty seven years without end. Personally I'm tired and I just want to have some peace, that's why I want to go to Heaven."

"Then I refuse! The only thing that I'm going to let you do is fight the Demon King!" Why this little…! He hated being talked down to, he couldn't let this slide!

"You know what then? Fine, I'll take your damned third option. What am I supposed to bring with me?"

"Anything here-" She began to pull out a stack of papers.

"Anything? Then I pick you!" He pointed dead on at her, glaring behind his helmet.

"Ha, me?! You can't take me! Now, go ahead and pick-" Two magic circles appeared, one underneath each of them. "Huh?!"

"Aurdel Ganowicz, your request has been heard and accepted. We shall take your job from here Aqua-Sama," an angelic figure descended from above with a curtain of light.

"W-wait a minute! You can't do this to me! This has to be against the rules, right?! He can't take a Goddess with him, RIGHT?!" She panicked, bashing her hands against the invisible barrier that surrounded them as they began to float into the air. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME, I DON'T HAVE ANY FIGHTING CAPABILITY TO SPEAK OF!" Her whining intensified.

"We pray for your safe return and good luck on your quest! Should you successfully defeat the Demon King someone will be sent to pick you up. As for you hero, should you defeat the Demon King you will be granted anyone one gift from the gods!"

"WAAAAAH! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" The both of them floated high up into the air, drifting towards a large light. Before they knew it they'd reached it and they were temporarily blinded.

...The Town of Starting Adventurers...

A carriage pulled out from in front of them, Aurdel was able to get a good view of his surroundings. The place he stood in was the side of a paved stone road in the middle of a very medieval-esque town, the people around him were all dressed in era-appropriate clothing. That was discounting the people that looked like they belonged in a brothel on Gilgamesh though. They were probably just oddballs. "WAAAAAAH!" Speaking of oddballs, he'd come here with a blue haired one. He turned around quickly and dealt Aqua a quick haymaker before she could react, shutting her up and knocking her to the ground. "What the hell was that for you shitty man?!"

"You reap what you sow. Now hurry up and leave me alone, so I might be able to live a life of peace and quiet."

"Not a chance! You brought me here so I have to stick with you!" She grappled with him. Unfortunately for her, he was a thousand pounds of titanium and muscle, she stood no chance of possibly winning against him.

"As if, you would just cause me nothing but trouble!" He shook his head, "Look, if you want to go home so bad then go on and defeat the Demon King. Leave me out of it."

"But you have to help me! You're contractually obligated to-!"

"Contractually obligated my ass! If the people you sent over were obligated to take down the Demon King then you sure did pick a great bunch to send over! BECAUSE THEY NEVER DID IT!"

"Please!" She wailed, "At least help me get started being an Adventurer! If not, I'll just follow you all the way around town like this!"

He grumbled, there was no way he could live if he had this idiot following him around all the time. "Fine, I'll help you get started, but once I do I never want to see your face again! Got it?" She bounced her head up and down in acknowledgement, "Good.." He looked around, how was he supposed to find where she was supposed to go? If there were a fantasy book or movie there would be some group of veteran or powerful heroes, once that would take them in as one of their own and allow them to rise the ranks. Did this world have one?

A woman walked by, "Excuse me, do you know if there's anything like a guild around here?" The woman stopped and looked at him.

"Oh of course there is, this is the city of Axel after all. The town of starting adventurers." Was it now? Good to know. He wasn't planning to go on any 'adventures' though.

"Thank you, might me point me in it's direction?"

"Of course sweetie, just follow the signs on the road. They'll lead you right to it." She pointed a sign sitting on a post next to the road.

"Ah, thank you. Have a good day." The woman nodded, then walked away.

"Hey, why'd you treat a random lady you just met with respect when you're already getting mad and punching me."

He sighed, "Aqua, if you can give me one reason that you think should justify me respecting you then go ahead, but I can come up with a thousand reasons why I won't be doing that."

"Of course I can, I'm a Goddess for crying out loud.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Well, you're-"

* * *

"I… I didn't actually think you'd manage to say a thousand bad things about me," Aqua said, wiping her tears from her eyes with her sleeves following her verbal demolishing.

"I'm a good judge of character, I pick up on things easily." He pushed open the door to the guild's main hall, it was bustling with activity. People were drinking, eating, talking and doing everything else in between when he first saw them. Then, because they saw him open the door, they quieted down. They stared at him, the only sounds of voices were those of whispers.

"Who is that guy?" "Is he a Crusader? A high level Knight?" "Maybe he's a Demon sent here to infiltrate the guild, then he'll destroy the city." All of it was unreasonable rumor.

He walked into the guild hall, the loudest sound was his footsteps and he put one metal boot after another on the floor. People parted their way in front of him, they were afraid of him from the moment they saw him. That wasn't entirely bad as being feared might give him some leeway around here. He found his way to a counter where a line of people were standing, the line dissipated with his presence. The woman behind the counter stood her ground though, swallowing hard with a wary expression on her face. "A-ah, good morning. How many can I help you?"

"I'm seeking to register with the guild."

"I-I see. Well, to register with the guild requires a fee-" She took a good look at him, he towered over her. "B-but I suppose we can just waive that for now."

"First is just some information we have to tell you. We have to tell this to anyone who registers to be an adventurer, so it won't take long." She coughed uncomfortably, Aurdel implored Aqua to pay attention. "First, adventurers are the ones responsible for exterminating any monsters that wander outside of the town and any other dangerous creatures that might harm citizens. They, collectively, earn their living this way. But among adventurers are various different jobs." That in itself didn't sound bad, but he by no means was seeking to do more fighting. Pay or not, he was tired of it.

"Take this and please, look here." The woman handed both of them cards, "Do you see the word 'Level?' All things in this world have souls no matter what they are. If you kill or eat a creature, you can absorb a part of the memory of a soul known as 'Experience Points.'" He wasn't considering it, but was this woman actually being serious about what she was saying? This was real life, not some video game. "Normally they are intangible, but with this Adventurers Card it will display the Experience Points you absorb along with your corresponding level. The latter shows how strong an Adventurer is, and will increase as you defeat creatures and level up. Levelling up will do things like grant you skill points to learn new skills, so please work hard to do so." It had to be some manner of sick joke, for someone to confuse real life with a game.

"F-first, you must fill out some information. That means height, weight, age and any other details left blank." Normally he wouldn't disclose information like this, but he supposed it really didn't matter at this point. To the UNSC and ONI he was a dead man. His height was 6 foot 11 inches, weight was 291.2 lbs and his age 41. He left the spots describing his physical appearance blank, it wasn't necessary. "Okay… Please, place your hand here." She motioned towards some orb-like device sitting atop a desk, not wanting to hold things up he did so. It began to glow and its parts spun around, then began to transcribe information once his card was placed beneath it.

The woman pulled out the card from the device and looked at it, then looked at him. She seemed to hold a look of complete disbelief. "How…? Who are you? All of your stats, your luck, charisma, strength, intelligence, all of it, are incredibly high. We've never seen stats like these before." This caught the attention of those around him, "Y-you're able to pick any job you want. Whether that be Adventurer, Crusader, Master Swordsman or-"

"I don't care what it is."

"O-okay then, I'll just mark you down as an Adventurer. You'll be able to change your class whenever you choose, if you do so." They were surprised at his choice, but it didn't matter to him. He didn't need their opinions because he wasn't going to be an 'adventurer.'

Next was Aqua, she underwent the same process he'd undergone and the woman looked at her card. "R-really, who are you two? This woman was incredibly high stats as well, aside from intelligence and luck. Not to mention, an extremely high amount of magic. You're easily able to pick from most of the top jobs there are."

"Well then, I suppose that I'll just have to become an Archpriest. After all, there is no job for a Goddess, so I'll take the closest thing I can get." This 'Goddess' seemed to miss the fact that the lady at the counter had essentially insulted her and called her as dumb as a brick. He supposed it was fitting though, that being so dumb she wouldn't pick up on it. Either way now that this was done, he could leave.

"Good riddance." He left the guild.


	2. Chapter 2

**...Joining Together...**

"How many times do I have to tell you this? Go away already. You said you'd leave me alone once you were established at the guild, so scram."

"L-look! I'm sorry for all the mean things I said, just please help me be an adventurer already!" Aqua, for the past two weeks, had continually been showing up to the work site Aurdel was working at and begging him to join her. Every single time, he refused her.

"I'm not going to help you, I have my peaceful life and I plan to keep it that way," he heaved up a pile of bricks. For those past two weeks he'd worked as part of a construction for the city's walls, rebuilding sections that were crumbling and reinforcing those that were weak. And he was good at it too, because of that he was already respected by the other workers and bound to be a manager eventually.

There was something that felt off though, something that was partially driving him up a wall. It was a nagging feeling that sat in the back of his mind, almost like a craving on desire. He had a general idea of what it might be. Because while he did enjoy having peaceful downtime he knew that for years he'd been conditioned for battle. Whether that be the Covenant or a group of rebels, he'd always been fighting something. And now? He had nothing. And it was driving him towards the edge, one that he might easily be forced over if he didn't find some way to deal with or sate these feelings. "But I can't fight at all! How am I supposed to defeat the Demon King?!"

"Learn to then." He set down the bricks and began laying them down on the wall.

"It's not that simple, you can't just learn to fight! Only certain classes can fight, and an Archpriest isn't one of them!" He kept laying down bricks, ignoring her. "At least give me a chance! I promise that I won't cause you any issues." He stopped for a moment.

"Really?"

"Really!" She bounced her head up and down rapidly in confirmation.

He set what he was working this down, "If I was to go off and fight some enemy of humanity, I'd want my fellow Spartans with me. But I don't. All I have is you. So I want to make it clear that if I do join you, then I'd be the one in charge. Got it?"

"Pfft, why should a Goddess like me-" He went back to laying bricks, "Alright alright! You can be the leader of our party! Just come down from there already."

So he put down the bricks, then slid down from the top of the wall to the bottom where Aqua was standing. "Alright, good. In that case you should start getting ready, because if you really want to fight the Demon King then there's no time to waste by doing nothing. I have enough money saved up to buy some equipment, after that I'll go to Guild and pick out our first job for us. Got it?"

"I got it. And don't worry, I'm a Goddess. So you can count on me!"

"No, no I can't." He began to walk away towards the direction of the guild.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" She chased after him. Moments like these were what really made him wonder what happened to the other Spartans.

For all he knew the Spartans that he saved could be the last ones alive. When the MAC rounds struck and took the Cruisers out of the sky his comm unit had gone done. He couldn't make contact with Alpha-Red, Delta-Red or Gamma-Red. The Spartans were all tough, for sure, but with the odds they'd faced on Reach even in his mind it was unlikely that most of them had survived. Maybe a select few, like Kelly, Fred or John had made it. He hoped that John especially had made it out alive, he'd practically become the poster-child of the UNSC's war efforts and if he died it'd be a huge blow to morale. But this wasn't something he had to worry about now, he'd died on Reach and was on this world far away from the Human-Covenant war.

* * *

It was as he'd thought, Aqua was completely useless. "WAAAAAH! AURDEL, SAVE ME!" The quest he'd picked out for them was a rather self explanatory one, kill five giant frogs. Simple enough. At least, it was for him. For Aqua, on the other hand, it was an extreme challenge. "WAAAAAAH! HELP ME ALREADY!" The giant frogs around here were considered a credible threat by the local populace, as a result there was a standing bounty for those that were killed. They stood at around the size of a bull from Earth and were easily capable of swallowing creatures like goats whole. It was especially bad this time of year. Around this time was their mating season and as a result they preferred to wander around towns in search of food, and that was the source of their trouble. Because of their size they were easily capable of swallowing people whole too, there were even stories of farmers and children disappearing during the mating season.

However he also had gotten a useful bit of information from the guild staff that told them this, the frogs especially hated the taste of metals and as a result avoided them whenever possible. Given that he was wearing a near half a ton suit of titanium armor he would prove to be safe from their attacks. And as for Aqua? Well.. "AURDEL!" It was self explanatory. Eventually she tripped and screamed in terror as the frog's tongue whipped out and grabbed her, sending her face first into its mouth. Her legs kicked around in the air as she struggled to try and break free, her screams muffled. Aurdel sighed. He sprinted over. Using the money he'd made from working as a construction worker he had enough to buy himself a shortsword and a shield, the latter of which was strapped to his left arm. Using all his might he bashed the frogs with his shield, knocking the wind out of it and forcing it to spit Aqua out over quite a long distance. It stumbled back, somewhat stunned.

Taking the opportunity of it being stunned by his blow he took his sword and plunged it into it's flesh, running up and down along its body. Within a matter of strikes he managed to kill the creature, it rolling over with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. He was about to speak to Aqua when he turned around, but he found that in the time it took him to kill that one frog she'd already gotten herself in the mouth of another. The process of killing the second one was much the same. "Eugh… Thank you Aurdel! Thank you!" She ran up and hugged his waist, her head down as she sobbed. Dripping off of her was slime and mucus that had come from the inside of the frog. Had he not had his helmet on he probably would have smelled how bad it was. Then again, he wasn't exactly one to want to find out what it smelled like.

He patted her head gently then pushed her away slightly, he didn't exactly need her hanging off of him. "You know, if you're not up to this then you can just go back to town. I'll just finish the quest myself and pick up the reward, it's not like-" he began to state to her plainly, only to be cut off.

"I can't go back like this! What would my followers in the Axis cult think if they heard I ran away from some dumb frog?!" First of, that 'dumb' frog had swalllowed her and was practicaly on it's way to killing her. Second, followers? He found it hard to believe that a Goddess like her would ever have followers. If she did, he wanted to make sure that he stayed as far away as possible from them.

"Look, you can't fight these things. If anything, the best thing you're good at is being bait for them."

"Bait?! A Goddess like me shouldn't be used as bait! I"ll just show you how useful I am!"

"Hold on you blue idiot!" Aqua charged out from where they were sitting on the grass, in the direction of another frog sitting idly and minding its own business. He… he was going to let her learn from experience this time.

"Foul Creatures! Prepare to atone for your sins at the hands of a Real Goddess! God Blow!" A magic like swirl of light surrounded Aqua as she charged straight towards it. Of course, there was another thing that the guild staff had told him. "You know, you froggies are pretty cute up close!" Giant frogs are resistant to physical attacks. He'd killed his third frog before they went back into town.

**...Finding Alternatives...**

In total, by killing those three frogs and having their corpses brought back to the guild and sold, they'd made fifteen thousand eris. Fifteen thousand eris, that wasn't much better working on the wall around town. Certainly it was much more interesting than doing so, he couldn't say that he'd seen a poor excuse for a Goddess swallowed by a frog multiple times before. But despite that it wasn't exactly on his priority list to see that happen. Killing those frogs did help sate some of those feelings though, even if it wasn't entirely. He could easily continue being an adventurer if things were just like this. Though whether or not Aqua would survive to see that day was another question entirely. "You know, I think we might need more people in this squad of ours."

"It's called a party, but I was thinking the same thing too green bean!"

"Green bean? What kind of a nickname is-"

"I even took the liberty of making and posting the notice on the guild's board already!"

"When did you have the time to do that?"

"I did it while you were having the frogs transported back and sold." Damnit, he couldn't even turn her back for a moment without her doing something. He walked over to the board and search for the notice that she posted eventually finding it. He read it.

"Aqua, this is absolutely horrible. Nobody is going to join us after reading this."

"What do you mean? People will be lining up for miles to join us!" She threw up her arms to emphasize her point, nearly falling over backwards.

"People would kill to have somebody like me in their party, a Godly Archpriest. After all, I'm able to cure poison, diseases, paralysis statuses, use support spells and even resurrect those who've recently died!"

"That last thing doesn't sound very Goddess-like, it sounds more like something an evil mage would do to build an army. As for the rest of them, I haven't seen you do anything of the like yet. So in my mind there's serious questions of your abilities."

"Oh shut it! I'll show you just how important I am with how many people show up because of our notice!" She folded her arms, shut her eyes and looked away from him with frustration. He sighed, she was a problem child. He just needed someone that was at least halfway capable and could make sure this idiot didn't get killed while he did the heavy lifting.

"What was it you said? That you'll show me just how important you are with how many people show up because of the notice?"

"Shut up!" A few hours passed by, enough time for him to see exactly what gear he had left with him from Reach. He had a frag grenade, a block of C-12, a thruster pack, his trusty M6D and its two magazines. Plenty of people passed through the guild. And plenty of people read the notice on the board too. All of them laughed. After all, who wouldn't laugh when someone was looking for advanced classes to fight alongside in a quest to defeat the Demon King inside a town of beginners. It would probably prove more productive to take down the notice now and replace it with his own, that way they might actually get someone to show up and join them. And he was about to go and do exactly that when a voice spoke, approaching them.

"Fufufu, I saw your notice looking for advanced class adventurers. It appears our meeting here is one of fate, as I have anxiously waited a long time for the arrival of someone such as yourselves." The voice came from a small girl, one with black hair like his, glowing red eyes and dressed in red, black and gold robes with a matching pointed hat. On top of it all there was a staff in her hands and an eyepatch on her left eye. Given how small and frail she appeared to look, with skin that was akin to a porcelain doll, she could be no more than… thirteen. Personally he wasn't surprised that a fantasy like medieval world was sending children to fight their battles, that didn't mean he liked it though. He himself was trained from childhood to fight someone else's battles.

She flung her cloak to the side, as if it was blowing in a strong gust of wind. "My name is Megumin and my calling is of an Archwizard, a master of magic! And I control the strongest of all offensive magics, the most destructive, Explosion magic!" She really was trying to show off, it looked like it was impressing Aqua. "The true nature of my forbidden strength has lead me to be ostracized both from my kin and society. So show me your great resolve and stare into the abyss with me, as when man into the great darkness beyond it will stare-"

"Kid, are you lost?"

"Kid?! I am not a kid!" Megumin shouted, "And I am not lost, I came here because I saw your notice and wanted to join your party!"

"I'm not going to let a-"

"You have a red eye, are you a Crimson Demon?" Aqua asked.

She nodded happily, "Fufu, now you see my true nature. I am indeed a Crimson Demon, in fact the foremost of all Crimson Demons in terms of wielding our finest magic. My magic is capable of demolishing entire mountains! With one blast, I can destroy armies! With…! One… Ugu…" She collapsed to the floor.

"Are you alright?" He crouched down low to the floor given the huge height difference between the two of them, helping her up.

"I haven't had anything to eat for three days… Do you have anything that I might eat?" Mmm, that was probably why she was looking for a 'party.' She didn't have any money to get anything to eat, or anybody around her to leech off of.

If that was the case he really couldn't just abandon her here. Either she'd starved or she'd get kidnapped by someone willing to do a lot of bad things with her. "Is your eye hurt too? Why are you wearing that eyepatch?"

"This is no simple eyepatch, rather it is a magic item. It seals away my immense and destructive magic power, taking it off is sure to spell doom for the world."

"No, it doesn't "

"It… doesn't," Megumin confirmed, lowering her head. Aurdel sighed, Megumin handed Aqua her adventurer's card.

"Is there anything else I should know about you Crimson Demons?"

"All of us are filled with immense amounts of magic power and blessed with high intellects, traits that we use to become expert mages-!"

"They also all have weird names," Aqua added on as she scanned over Megumin's card.

"Hey, don't call our names weird! In my opinion all of your names are weird!"

"What are your parents names?"

"My mother is Yuiyui and my father is Hyoizaburo!" She made an exaggerated pose as she said their names. Not weird, huh?

"I've heard worse, hey Aqua-"

"If you have a problem with my parent's names then say it to my face! I won't allow anyone to insult my family!"

"Her card definitely is real," Aqua said handing it back to Megumin, "Her class really is that of an Archwizard too, so she's able to use extremely powerful magic. Not to mention, she really does have a high level of magic."

"Don't call me she! I have a name, use it!" He had to make a choice. He didn't know if Megumin would actually be useful or not in a fight, but he did know that if he did leave her here then someone else was liable to scoop her up and do things. Something like that latter idea disgusted him.

"Ignore her, just order something to eat." He handed Megumin the menu, "My name is Aurdel, the blue thing next to me is named Aqua."

"Blue thing?!"

"Either way, it's a pleasure to meet you Megumin."

**...A Final Encounter...**

"Explosion magic really is the strongest of all magics, but as a result it needs a large amount of time to be prepared. You just need to keep that frog at bay while I chant my magic," using the tip of her staff she pointed towards a purple frog croaking off in the distance. It should be easy enough to do that, it was only one frog. He drew his sword.

"Look, there's another frog over there!" Aqua shouted, "And there's a second one with it!" She was pointing towards two frogs approaching them from a distance. Even if it was two at once he should be able to deal with them.

"Alright Megumin, target that frog you plan to hit. Aqua, we'll take the other ones. Maybe if you don't get eaten this time you'll be able to show me your strength as a fallen Goddess."

"Fallen Goddess?! I am not a fallen Goddess! I am a real Goddess!"

"A Goddess?" Megumin asked, turning and looking at Aqua.

He responded before Aqua could put a word in, "Yes, Aqua calls herself a Goddess. It's rather sad really."

"Indeed…" Megumin went back to her magic.

"Waaaah! You're so mean Aurdel!" Aqua shouted, pounding her fists on his armor's back. She was practically trying with how much they insulted her.

"I'll show you just how useful I am as a Goddess!" And she charged off in the direction of the two frogs, by herself. Again. It seems she didn't learn from her mistakes. "When I'm through with you neither of you will move!" She shouted with staff in hand, "Tremble before me and fall into a great sleep! God Requiem! God Requiem is the requiem of a Goddess' joy and sorrow! Anything that stands in its path is guaranteed to fall!" She accomplished her initial goal, in making the frog's not move. The rest of it? Not so much. He'd let her deal with her mistakes for now. The air around him began to glow with great force.

A deep blue light began to shine, swirling through the air. "Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark. I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson. The time of awakening cometh." The orb located on the end of Megumin's staff began to glow, matching the color of the swirling lights around them and even having them flow into the orb."Justice fallen upon this infallible boundary appear now as an intangible distortion! Dance, dance dance! I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force: a destructive force without equal!" Was this chant even necessary for her to use her magic? It seemed like she was adding a lot of unneeded threatics when she could just fire her spell already. "Return all creation to cinders and come from the abyss! This is the mightiest means of attack known to man, the ultimate attack magic! Explosion!"

At that moment she let her magic loose. The blue lights around the plain intensified for a moment before being outshone from the orb on Megumin's staff, shooting out from it and off towards the frog in the distance. When it finally did hit it combusted into a massive explosion, one with a great light that would have blinded him had he not had a visor capable of polarizing automatically. Eventually the small mushroom cloud and the cloud of kicked up dust and dirt blew away, revealing the crater that her magic had left behind. Simply put, nothing was left of the frog. The diameter of the crater itself was about twenty meters.

"So… magic actually is real." He'd had doubts about it when he came here, but now his doubts were both metaphorically and quite literally blown away by Megumin's display. The ground cracked, another group of frogs shot up from the ground. "Alright Megumin, why don't you-" He turned to where Megumin was standing. Or at least, where she'd been standing. She was laying on the grass. "What are you doing?"

"Explosion magic is extremely powerful and as a result uses an immense amount of magic to perform. Essentially I've surpassed my limits and am unable to move." A frog hopped over towards Megumin, he could still see the one eating Aqua off in the distance, "I never expected a frog to appear so close by, this is bad. Please save me-" She was cut off as the frog closed its mouth around her. Aurdel sighed. By the end of the day he'd finished the quest with dead frogs to spare.

* * *

The quest could have gone better, but they still completed it. Or rather, he had completed it. "Ugh… I stink… I stink... " Aqua sobbed as they walked into Axel. She'd been covered in slime, again, due to her failure to understand why charging a frog when she had zero close combat capabilities was a bad idea.

"The inside of a frog smells awful, but it feels quite nice and warm. That's knowledge I didn't think I'd learn."

"And it's certainly knowledge I didn't need to learn from you. Look, that spell of yours really is powerful but you're going to have to save it for emergency situations with large amounts of enemies. You'll just have to use something else instead of it."

"I can't, I only know Explosion magic." ...Huh?

"Repeat that, you only know Explosion magic?"

"I only know Explosion magic, I can't use any other form of magic."

"Please tell me this is some sort of sick joke."

"I'm dead serious." Great, because he felt bad about leaving a hungry kid alone he ended up saddling himself with another liability. At least this one could attack unlike Aqua, even if it was only once and she had to be carried away afterwards.

"If your skill level is high enough to learn Explosion, shouldn't you be able to learn other magic too?" Aqua asked. "Even I didn't learn all the Archpriest spells until after I'd learned the party trick skills." Party tricks, he had a Goddess of party tricks. Why was he not surprised…

"I'm an Archwizard that love Explosion magic above all else, I don't like any other magic in the Detonation series. I only love Explosion magic! Sure adventures might go easier if I learned other magics, but that just wouldn't do! I only love Explosion magic! I might be able to use it only once a day but it's the sole reason that I chose to become an Archwizard!" This girl was hopelessly obsessed with this one magic spell, it was honestly embarrassing to listen to. He was stuck with her regardless, he just hoped that Aqua didn't-

"Amazing! Simply amazing! I just love your relentless pursuit for your one true calling no matter how inefficient it may be!" Don't encourage her you idiot! It'd just ruin his chances of getting her to learn something else in the future.

She tightened her grip on him with a sudden amount of enthusiasm and spoke. "My sole desire in life is to use Explosion magic. It doesn't matter if I go unpaid, but so long as you provide food and other things this Archwizard will be in your service. So what do you say? Will you allow me to stay in your party?" Did that imply he might let her go? Sure it was theoretically an option, but given everything he'd already thought about it wasn't something he might actually consider doing.

"Yeah, I'll keep you around. But look, you have to listen to me about when you cast your spell. Alright? I don't need you casting it at random and wasting it on some small fry."

"Impossible, I'll only cast it on things I want to."

"If you don't give any ground on this issue, I'm going to ditch you."

"...I can make exceptions."

After that he left them to go to the guild to pick up their reward, letting them go to the baths to wash up. "I've confirmed that you've completed your quest, thank you for your hard work," the woman at the counter said. She handed him back his card, somehow these things were able to track what someone had killed. On top of that it said he'd raised by 'four levels.'"Your total, with the sale of the frogs and the reward from the quest, comes out to one hundred and fifteen thousand eris." She took out a bag with the money and set it on the counter, allowing him to take it. The amount that they received from this quest wasn't exactly a fortune but he was still fine with it. Whether or not his party members considered it to be worth it was another question.

If it wasn't for him those two most likely would have died to the frogs, gone without a trace left. If he could pick a quest that was both easier and safer for them to complete he would take it but those didn't seem to exist at the moment. There only quests there were was this those like "I want someone to look for my lost pet white wolf," 'Teach my son swordsmanship. Only Rune Knights or Master Swordsmen" and "Looking for magic test subjects. Must have high HP and confidence in magic resistance." It was nothing those two could do. But what he really did need was someone competent, someone he could actually use in his party to get things done that wasn't him. Perhaps it was a useless effort.

"I saw your recruitment notice on the guild board, are you still looking for new members?" He turned. The voice had come from a blonde woman, one encased in a suit of orange and white armor. A feathered pauldron sat on her right shoulder, a greatsword was on her back and a cold, stoic look had filled her face. Maybe, just maybe, she might be that competent person he was looking for.

"Yes, we are."

"Ah, then it appears my prayers have been answered .For a long time I have waited anxiously, awaiting the arrival of someone such as yourself." He… he was getting deja vu. Hadn't he heard similar words from Megumin? He had, but maybe he was looking too deep into it. "Now, I wish to know how well your party fares in battle."

How they fare? "I myself come out fine, I do the majority of the damage dealing. But our Archpriest charged forward and was eaten by a giant frog, something similar happened to our Archwizard after they use their spell and collapsed. They came out of it covered in slime." He said those words, but when he noticed how the woman was acting he'd slowed himself. "Are… are you alright?" The woman had begun panting as if she was relishing the idea, her face had a slight pink tint to it now too.

"My name is Darkness, my calling is that of a Crusader." Her panting became more intense and her face turned even more pink, "Please, please…! Allow me to j-j-join your party!"

This woman was clearly not sane. Perhaps she was at least a capable fighter? If she was, then he might be able to deal with it. "As a knight, I cannot overlook the horrors that befell the women of your party at such a young age!" She moved in even closer towards him, her intensity raising even further. She'd practically be in his face were it not for his helmet and height.

"The other two aren't exactly reliable, so if you-"

"That's perfect!" It's what? "The truth is, while I have utter confidence in my stamina and strength I am extremely clumsy. None of my attacks ever hit their intended target. But even so, feel free to charge the frontlines and use me as a shield!" She got extremely close, as if already imagining such a scenario."

So she was a masochist instead of being insane, there wasn't much difference in his eyes. But on top of that she was completely useless, as she can't hit a single target. Not wanting to be saddled with another unreliable party member he booked it out of there as quickly as possible. He gave no excuse, he only said that he had to leave.


	3. Chapter 3

**...Thievery For This Spartan...**

Given that he'd given up trying to reason with that woman from the previous night, the masochistic Crusader named Darkness, he just hoped that when he went to the guild he didn't have to see her again. He was almost sure that if he did that she would try to join his party again, but this time it would be in front of its other members. Even though he didn't know exactly how the other two would respond to her attempts to join he was almost sure that they would try and get her in. It wasn't something he could allow to happen. Either way they were who he was going to the guild to meet up with now, as they had to pick out another quest and keep earning money.

He pushed open the doors to the guild. "Woaaah!" There were sounds of wonder and amazement coming from the higher up seating area. Aqua seemed to be the center of attention because she was performing a trick, one with fans and a cup on her head. "Do it again!" Suddenly water sprayed from the two fans and a flower bloomed from the cup, the crowd of adventurers that had surrounded her clapped.

"Oh thank you, thank you!" Aqua gave a bow, then looked over towards him. "Aurdel! What do you think of my new skill?" New skill? What a joke. He found a bit of debris and threw it at Aqua, colliding with her face. She tipped over, "My cup!"

Since Aqua didn't offer up much in terms of conversation or actual input he'd ignore her for now and go to his other party member. Megumin was off to the side and eating at one of the tables, he stood next to her. He would have sat next to her but there was no guarantee that the chairs they had here could survive a man in heavy armor weighing a thousand pounds sitting on them. He thought back to when he first came here and 'became an adventurer,' that woman had been explaining something. She'd said something along the lines of the fact that 'leveling up' would grant him 'skill points', something that could be used to 'learn skills.' He looked at his card and it had done exactly just that.

Because his level had raised by four, he'd earned four skill points that he could use. Then again he had no idea how to do so. "Megumin, how do I learn skills?"

She stopped eating for a moment and looked at him, "To learn skills you need to have skill points, then from there you need someone to teach you them. Once they've taught you the skill it'll appear on your card and you'll be able to learn it, you just need to spend the points on it." What an awfully simplistic way to 'learn' skills, he was almost insulted. Learning any skill took years of hard work and refinement, even then it wasn't a guarantee that the teaching would settle in and be internalized. But to simply have to put points onto a piece of paper? It invalidated all of that.

"But if you're asking about skills then that means you have skill points, and if you have skill points then that means you can learn skills. In that case, learn Explosion magic!" She practically jumped up from her chair, knocking it over, and got in his fa- visor. "Explosion magic is the strongest magic there is out there, it can wipe out entire armies with a single blow! There are no other worthwhile skills out there, so come and follow the path of explosions with me!" She was certainly enthusiastic about it, but..

"I'm not going to learn something like Explosion magic, having one kid that can do it is enough for me. Besides, after a single blast you're… out… cold?" He raised an eyebrow as Megumin sat down dejectedly.

"Kid, huh?" She quietly munched on her breakfast after that. Why had that affected her so much? It's not like she wasn't a kid, especially when compared to him. But that was something besides the point of their conversation, he would have to learn some new skills to make up for his party's uselessness. It would have to be something good though, that meant he wouldn't bother asking anything of Aqua. He wasn't going to learn some useless thing like a party trick, he didn't even know why she'd bothered to learn them if her goal was to defeat the Demon King.

"Finally! I've been looking for you!" Damnit, he recognized that voice. The woman from the night before was back and this time with a friend.

"Now, should we continue where we left off? I would like for you to allow me to join-"

"I refuse to let you join my party." She immediately recoiled back and held herself tightly, a look of pleasure on her pink cheeked face. How a person that craved pleasure through pain or rejection could survive in this world, one chock full of monsters that could easily kill most, was beyond him.

"So… quick! So cold!"

"You need to ease up Darkness, you won't get anywhere acting like that," the friend she'd brought with her said. The friend was a white haired girl with a scratch on one of her cheeks, she gave off a much more mature and reliable feeling. Perhaps he could recruit her instead given how sound as a person she seemed to be.

"What's your name?" He asked, intending to get to know more about her.

"My name is Chris and I'm a Thief, as you can see." Is that what the outfit she was wearing really implied? Somehow he doubted they had the same idea of what a thief looks like. "And Darkness is my friend, I guess." 'I guess?' What kind of a relationship was that? "Anyways I couldn't help but hear earlier that you were thinking about learning some new skills. I could teach you some of mine, Thief skills can come in extremely useful and they're cheap to learn. And I'll teach them to you just for the price of a drink." Finally, someone competent.

"I can do that. Hey bartender, a cold drink for the lady with the white hair here!"

* * *

"...So those two skills will come in extremely handy, but the one I'm about to teach you is the one I recommend most in terms of usefulness." After Chris had had her drink at the guild bar she'd led him outside, there she'd teach him her skills. The first of the two was one called enemy detection, it was an ability that allowed the user to detect the presence of any being around them with a varying level of identifiers for things such as strength. This was a skill he might not entirely need due to the fact that his suit had a motion tracker on his heads up display, but it would never hurt to have a backup in case of some failure mid-mission. The second of the two was an ability called lurk, one that allowed the users to easily hide, sneak around and slip away from situations but also muffled both their scent and sound

The latter ability was bound to come in much more useful for him given what he wore, he was bound to make sound wherever he went so anything that could reduce its impact on his abilities would come in extremely helpful."This skill is called Steal and it able to snatch any one item located on its target. That could be a weapon in an enemy's hand, a piece of armor or even something like a wallet. In the end, depending on how you use it, Steal can be an extremely useful skill to have under your belt. But it's success factor is dependent on how high your luck is." Luck, huh? According to the card he'd received he had an extremely high level of luck. Somehow he doubted that, given everything that has happened to him in his life. But that made him wonder, if his luck was high just how high would John's be? Off the charts, clearly. He was always considered to be the luckiest of the Spartans.

"Here I go, watch carefully." She reached her hand out, "Steal!" She shouted the skills name out and a bright light appeared from her hand, after a moment it disappeared. "Hmm? What's this? I was expecting to get your wallet." Rather than get his wallet, she'd gotten his M6D sidearm. He patted his holster to confirm the fact. It was indeed gone."Well wallet or not, that was the Thief skill Steal."

"Thanks, but I'm going to need that back." He extended his hand, motioning for her to give the gun back to him.

She closed her hand around it and moved it away from him, "Actually, why don't we make a challenge out of it? Learn Steal and try to steal it back from me. Even if you don't get what you want, you might get some like my enchanted dagger. It's worth four hundred thousand eris."

Clearly this girl has no idea that his M6D was far superior to any bladed weapon she could offer him, getting anything else would be a completely unequal trade for him. He pulled out his adventurer's card. Lurk: 1 Point, Enemy:Detection: 1 Point, Nature's Beauty… five points? "What the hell is Nature's Beauty?"

"Nature's Beauty is an entertainer skill, it's the one your Archpriest party member was using earlier." Damnit, even indirectly Aqua was annoying. He removed the skill from his card, then put a point into Steal. He confirmed the point transfer. The card glowed for a moment then returned to normal, somehow the skills were learned.

"Alright, I've learned the skills."

"Good, now try it out on me whenever you're ready." She opened her palms, "By the way, I have these on me." They were rocks, "Carrying things like this on you reduces the chance that somehow valuable will get stolen. How underhanded. Then again, she was a Thief.

Alright, here he went. He needed to get that weapon back. "Steal!" Light shone from palm as he reached his hands out.

...

The thing he got wasn't his gun, He opened his palm, "Eeeeep! Give me my top back!" Instead, as Chris said, he'd somehow ended up with her top. She dropped the M6D and the rocks to the ground, using her hands to cover herself up.

"You know, you should wear more clothing. If you did that wouldn't be a possibility." He threw it to her, then reached over and picked up his magnum. There were quite a few people staring at him from the side of the streets, but they were in no position to judge. The skill was random in what it stole from the target after all.

After she put it back on they went back into the guild, where Aqua had finally finished doing her tricks to other adventurers. "Hey, Aurdel, where have you been? You missed all the really cool tricks I did."

"Really cool tricks? Why can't you learn something useful?"

"I am useful already! I just had to learn all of the party skills first before I could learn any Archpriest skills first." No, no you didn't. What would stupid party tricks have to do we being an Archpriest, a supposed holy class? "But what's the problem with her?" She looked at Chris.

"This man stole Chris' top," Darkness said before he could get a word in. Megumin and Aqua looked at him.

"That's skipping out on important details, like how sSteal takes items randomly, but effectively yes that's what happened."

"...you pervert."

"There's only one pervert here, and it's not me," he looked at Darkness.

"Such a cold, uncaring look. I can't see your face but I just know that you're glaring at me with such disgust! I simply must join your party!"

"I said no." Darkness reeled back again, her cheeks red.

"Hey Aurdel, is this the person that you said went to you for an interview?" D-damnit. He didn't want this to happen.

* * *

Darkness handed Megumin her adventurer's card and they all sat down, except for him. He really didn't want this to happen, the last thing he needed was another useless party member. How could he possibly manage to get her away from them? "I don't see why we shouldn't let her join, she's a true Crusader after all." Maybe… Maybe he could scare her off? That was one option he could try, though it might not work.

"Darkness. There is one thing that you should know before even want to consider joining our party, one goal of ours. And that is to pursue and defeat the Demon King," Aqua obediently nodded along to what he said. Chris didn't seem to believe him, Megumin was shocked. "And for someone like you undergoing such a quest might be extremely dangerous. Who knows what he or his army would do to you if you were caught? In my mind it's not worth the risk for someone such as-"

Darkness slammed her fists on the table. "That may be so, but… since the old times suffering an erotic fate at the hands of the Demon King has been the duty and expectation of female Knights. That alone makes it worthwhile to go!" He was at a loss for words. "Besides, just imagining what might happen to me is all exciting. I might be subjected to extremely lewd torture, put under the heel of the Demon King and his generals until I submit or am broken. If not that, then I'll be ravished and endlessly assaulted by his minions. Each one will take their turns and hold nothing back, using their brute strength and animal-like ferocity to make me suffer the most embarrassing possible capture. "It's been a thought I've had since I first became a Crusader, one that hasn't yet gone away." He just stared at her. This… this was just too much. "What, did I say something strange or out of line?" She seemed to be unnoticing of her rotten personality and fetish.

"Well then. Megumin, how about you? Are you willing to remain as a part of this party even with our near suicidal quest to take down the Demon King?"

"My name is Megumin and I am the wielder of the finest magic that all Crimson Demons possess! The Demon King may call himself the strongest there is and superior to all others, but this foremost mage of the Crimson Demon clan will show him who truly is superior." She raised her staff into the sky, "With my Explosion spell I'll wipe himself out in a single blow, crowning myself the new Demon King and as the Goddess of Destruction and Explosion. So if anything, you quest has only strengthened my resolve to stay with your party!" Great…

It was a lost cause to try and attempt to get any one of them to leave this party. "Emergency quest! Emergency quest! All adventurers please gather at the front gate at once! I repeat: all adventurers please gather at the front gate as once!"

**...Harvest...**

They ran through the streets of Axel towards the gate, the sound of bells were ringing and civilians were scattering about in terror towards their homes. "This can't be happening! Nobody told me it was coming today!" A woman somewhere shouted, windows and doors slammed shut all around them. "Don't let the kids outside!" For everyone to be in such a panic must mean something bad was about to happen. With the streets empty the adventurers were able to essentially stampede their way down towards the front of town. He drew his sword and shield and prepared himself to fight whatever came their way, making his way to the front of the crowd.

"A storm is coming," Megumin said dramatically, throwing cape and pointing her staff forward. All the other adventurers looked serious about this.

"What exactly is coming our way?" He asked.

"Cabbage," Aqua said, basket in hand.

"Cabbage…?

"Cabbage." What... "You came to a fantasy world, why are you surprised? Here cabbages fly once they're ripe enough, in search of a place to go and die in seclusion without being eaten."

"How is any of what you just said any kind of normal?

"It isn't?"  
"No! It isn't! Cabbage is supposed to grow from the ground and be picked, not fly and attack cities!"

"Well maybe you should have more of an open mind in a world like this, things aren't always as you think they're supposed to be you know."

This… this made absolutely no sense. "Harvest time!" all the other adventurers shouted, raising their weapons up high. How… How was any of this normal?! A wave of green descended from the sky and towards Axel, the wind rushing in its wake.

"Let's get as many as we can to make delicious meals!" And so the adventurers around him did. A few swung their swords and axes, cleaving clean through the soft flesh of the cabbages and splitting it into two. Then there were archers firing arrows at the cabbage, impaling them and knocking them out of the air. There were a few with hammers and mallets that crashed through large groups of them.

"Everyone! The cabbage harvest season has arrived, and this years cabbage is of fine quality!" The blonde woman usually at the counter, organizing guild activities, had arrived.

Each head harvested will go for ten thousand eris! Please capture as many as possible and lock them in these cages!"There was high quality cabbage, then there was questionable business practice. Given the price of everything else he'd seen in this world ten thousand eris would be about one hundred credits. While not exactly a high exchange rate, it was still an absurd amount of money to be paying for a single head of cabbage. Who exactly would be able to afford such a thing was beyond him.

"Aurdel, now is the time for me to show you just how good of a Crusader I am!" Darkness shouted, charging out into the field with sword in hand. Her skills remains to be seen.

Darkness ran into the middle of a swarm of cabbages and swung her sword. She swung again and again and again. And somehow, possibly by an act of God, she… she missed every single one. Then again that exactly what she'd told him when he met her, that her attacks never hit. How was he supposed to use a person like this in a fight? They were completely useless. Having someone like her around would be like having another Aqua around, except he couldn't use this one as bait for enemies because of her armor. Then he noticed something, some of the other adventurers were beginning to go down. One by one he saw them being pummeled by the cabbage.

How had he managed to come to a world where being where people were being taken out by a cabbage…? "Watch out!" Darkness shouted, jumping in front of two fallen adventurers and blocking incoming cabbages with her body. Pieces of her armor… flew off? What the hell? Not only was she useless as a fighter, but not even her armor could withstand cabbages. Cabbages! All those around her thought she was acting as a noble and model Knight, protects those in need. But he had better insight into why she'd actually done it, except when he saw the look on her face. The look on her face said more than enough.

"With so many enemies coming towards us, how could I possibly resist using my Explosion magic?" Huh? "I simply cannot!"

"Yes you can! Not while everyone else is here!"

"No I cannot, such a large army cannot be allowed to live!"

"They're cabbages!" Megumin stopped listening to him.

Megumin's eyes glowed a bright crimson red, "Oh, blackness shrouded in light, frenzied blaze clad in night. In the name of the Crimson Demons let the collapse of thine origin manifest. Summon before me the root of thy power hidden within the lands of the kingdom of demise!"

"Don't you dare!"

"Explosion!"

* * *

"Darkness, you really were amazing!" Aqua shouted, "You got in the way of those cabbages and it was almost impossible for them to break your iron-hard defenses!" Idiot, she hadn't stayed in front of them because of that. And he could hardly call them iron-hard defenses since her armor was destroyed by cabbages of all things. Of course she hadn't been done any favor when Megumin blasted her Explosion spell. Around half of the adventurers were hit by her spell, Darkness directly so. None were dead but many were injured and had to be healed by Aqua, something that raised her ego because she was able to be useful for once.

"Oh it was nothing," yes it really was nothing, "I was simply doing the job than any Crusader should do, providing a wall between my party and the enemy." She wasn't in their party, and their enemies weren't cabbages.

"You did great too Aqua,' Megumin said, "You were not able to keep all of the cabbages nice and fresh, but you also healed everyone and kept morale up." The second of those two things wouldn't have needed to happen were it not for Megumin's actions.

"Megumin did great too, you took out an entire swarm of cabbages in one blow," Aurdel's point still stood.

"Now do you see the true power of the Crimson Demons!"

"Yes!" Darkness exclaimed, "I've never taken such a direct powerful blow!" ...pervert

"But Aurdel, you didn't do too bad either," Aqua said. He looked over.

"Yes, I've never seen someone use Lurk and Steal like that." The way they were speaking of was him activating Lurk so he wouldn't be 'spotted' by the cabbages, then used Steal to snatch them out of the air.

"As part of my gratitude, I shall label you the Cabbage Lor-" He chucked a cabbage at her face, she was nowhere near fast enough to avoid it.

"Quiet you."

"You shitty old man!" She chucked the cabbage back at him, he sliced it in half and she folded her arms in protest.

"So, now that you've seen my true skills as a Crusader I'll ask the question once more. My name is Darkness and my calling is that of a Crusader, while I might not be able to deal massive blows in battle I can act as a wall! So please, allow me to join your party." He couldn't get his input in before the others answered.

"I think you would be a great addition to our party," Megumin said.

"Hey Aurdel, we're really shaping up to be something. We have three members with advanced classes after all! It's not something you just find anywhere. We'll be on our way to defeating the Demon King in no time," Aqua said.

"If you want to defeat the Demon King then stop drinking so much that you go into debt!"

"Never!"


	4. Chapter 4

**...Archpriest, Goddess or Blue Waste of Space?...**

Again had Aurdel's level risen, now he was level six. He didn't understand exactly how as the only thing he'd fought recently were cabbages but many things in this world didn't make sense to begin with. But he wouldn't question either as if this world wanted to reward him for catching cabbages then so be it. With the extra skill points he'd gained from raising levels he sought out to learn more skills, this time searching for someone who could actually perform magic. And he found just that. He managed to find a mage willing to teach him Basic Magic, allowing him to learn it for a single skill point. The person who'd taught him it said that the spells wouldn't be very useful but he doubted that. Anything could be put to use with the right effort, his party's existence was proof of that.

But since there wouldn't be any more cabbage harvests any time soon it meant that they had to keep looking for real quests to complete, ones to support them financially. Doing so would also allow him to level up quicker and store up more skill points, possibly allowing him to learn more potent and powerful skills. He might even be able to learn Intermediate Magic if someone was willing to teach it to him. Darkness was the first one to agree with him on the fact that they needed to complete more quests, though it was clearly not for the same reason that he was thinking about. "It's their mating season so why don't we take a quest to exterminate some frogs-"

"No frogs!" Aqua and Megumin both shouted, cowering and hiding themselves.

"What's the issue? They're easy to take down and hate weapons like swords, so killing them is no issue at all. Not to mention there's money to be made by selling their meat to the guild. Since they hate strong gear it means Aurdel would be fine, and that I'd only have to defend Megumin and Aqua while he slays them."

"What exactly would be the point of me dragging you all along if you're just going to be standing off to the side? At that point I could easily just complete the quest myself and get a bigger reward for me alone. And besides, as you know, they haven't exactly had the best experience with giant frogs around town. The last time we fought them they both got swallowed up and came out covered with slime."

"Swallowed… up… Covered with… slime…"

"Calm yourself pervert."

"I-I am not a pervert, don't make such baseless accusations of me!" The expressions on her face made her an open book to read, she'd clearly been thinking about being in the same position as those two.

"Aside from the emergency quest we haven't done anything together, so I want this quest to be one where you won't all be wiped out."

"Why would we be wiped out?" Aqua asked, "Why all except you?" Then again if they were all wiped out he wouldn't have to deal with them and could go back to living a peaceful life. But he wasn't about to lower himself to the level of an ONI mission handler.

"Why don't you guys go check out the board?" And so Megumin and Darkness did.

"I just think you're being too overcautious. You're a real stick in the mud, aren't you?" Aqua folded her arms. "We have three advanced classes so we should just grind with high difficulty quests with high reward, then go after the Demon King and wipe him out! We don't need to be held back by you!"

"What exactly would I be holding back?" He wasn't going to put up with her attitude.

"What do you mean? We're all-"

"Useful? Hardly. Darkness can't hit anything, Megumin has a single use attack and you've contributed quite literally nothing to this party. To be perfectly honest, it was a mistake to bring you here with me."

"Huh?!"

"And while it is partially my fault for losing my temper, the majority of the blame for why we're actually here lies with you. You refused to let me go to heaven, had you just let me neither of us would be here."

"But I- I… I am a Goddess! You-!"

"A Goddess? You hardly act like one. A Goddess wouldn't drink till they puke and then search for someone else to clear their tab because they've worked themselves into debt. A Goddess wouldn't insult those below them. And Goddess would actually do something useful."

"But I did-!"

"Did what? Capture a bunch of cabbages? Good for you. The only reason you did that was because you suggested we take all of our rewards separately. Had you not done that, you would have done nothing and leeched off of our work. But it's not like your 'work' was flawless anyways, hardly. You ended up crying and throwing a tantrum because you were getting spun around by the cabbages, a damn vegetable made you cry. And don't forget you're here in place of some overpowered piece of equipment or power. Have you performed at their level? No. So if I could have exchanged your for one I would have done it in a heartbeat."

"WAAAAAH! WAAAAAH! You're being so mean!" Aqua wailed.

She covered up her face and hid it on the table's surface, not looking at him. She still had enough fire in here for a retort though. "I-I am useful! I know healing spells… healing spells… healing spells! All you are is tall, big and green! What are you supposed to do?! If we keep listening to what you say then the Demon King is never going to be defeated! I want to go back to heaven!"

"I do what I see fit because I know what's tactically sound. But if I'm going to be perfectly honest I wouldn't need you or those other two to defeat the Demon King, I trained my whole life to fight. The only reason I haven't gone off on my own is because I don't abandon those less fortunate myself onto the streets. But if you're so intent on going back to heaven then why don't you teach me your only use so I can send you back personally?"

She kicked her legs against the table like a toddler, "No! I'm not going to teach you my healing magic! Doing that would take away my reason for existing! I'll never do it, never!" She violently sobbed and threw herself back onto the table.

"Aurdel, you really should hold back. I'm almost sure that you could make anyone cry."

"If you're ever feelings pent up or stressed, then I'd be more willing than not to take any scolding or lecturing that comes my way. After all it is the job of the Crusader to undergo the suffering of others."

"Pervert, you only say that because you would enjoy it."

"N-no! I wouldn't!"

"Yes you would!" He sighed, "Anyways, did you find anything?"

"There's nothing worthy of being hit by my Explosion spell."

"Yes, and there's nothing that would hit nearly hard enough to oppose me."

"That's not what I sent you over there to look for… And wouldn't it be a problem for you to be hit while you're dressed like that?" He motioned to Darkness. Because her armored was demolished by cabbages, somehow, she was instead wearing a black skirt and shirt with leather boots, her greatsword resting upon her back.

"Did you mean to say, 'How can you dress like that you whore, are you trying to tempt me?'"

"No! That's not even remotely close to what I said! I was asking because you don't have you're armor on and I don't know if you'd be able to take a hit without it!"

"Oh, well of course I can. What kind of Crusader would I be if I couldn't? Come, try and hit me and see how I take the blow."

"I refuse, I already know how you'd react." She looked disappointed hearing that, probably because she could reason out the fact he was considerably strong and could hit hard. He wasn't going to feed into her pleasures. "Alright, how about this. Is there any kind of quest that might help Aqua level up and be more useful?"

"To level up? It's rather hard for clerics to do that," Megumin said, "They don't have any offensive magic so they can't just slay monsters like we do. The only things they're capable of killing is the undead, as their healing magic destroys the undead because of their unholy properties and existence. The reason he was asking was because while his stats were already extremely high, he'd noticed that by levelling up they'd increased.

Perhaps if Aqua was able to do the same, she could actually accomplish something. "Then I think we should do it, if it has the chance to get some worthwhile use out of her I'm all for it."

"I think it should be up to Aqua whether or not we go on this quest, it is about her after all." The three of them turned to Aqua.

"Snore…" She'd… she'd fallen asleep. How was this woman supposed to be a Goddess?! She acted more like a child! In fact, he knew that there were younger children who acted better than her! He gave a swift kick to the bench she was sitting on and caused her to fall to the floor.

**..A Moonlight Encounter...**

Outside the town, far outside the town, there was a hill. And on that hill there was a cemetery. This cemetery plot was public and was meant for those that were homeless or for those that could not afford a proper burial. As a result holes were simply dug, the dead tossed into them and the dirt put back on to cover them up. Now a public cemetery in itself wasn't a bad thing, even if he didn't particularly enjoy the idea he did have to admit that it would be necessary in a medieval world like this, but what had been coming from it recently was bad. Undead monsters were rising from the cemetery, wandering around and attacking citizens, because of that it would be their job to both ensure that any raised undead were destroyed and that they got rid of whoever was causing the dead to raise. The possible target for this quest was something called a Zombie Maker.

As the name implied, rather plainly in fact, they are evil wandering spirits that create zombies to use as their minions. Supposedly they were able to be defeated by a novice adventuring party, something they technically were, so the quest should go off without a hitch. To make sure it went off a hitch they set up camp not far off from where the cemetery was located and would wait till dark for the Zombie Maker to arrive. Then from there they would fight the Zombie Maker, then allow Aqua to purify the cemetery. He lit the hot plate they had with him and cooked some food for his party. "Aurdel, may I have some water?" Megumin held out her glass, "The way you've been using basic magic makes it looks really convenient."

As she'd said, he'd been using the magic he picked up recently. While he hadn't been able to test out its combat utilities yet he had a few ideas as to what he might be able to use them for, along with a few practical purposes outside of combat. One of those turned out to be filling glasses with water, "Create Water!" A stream of water shot from his palm and into Megumin's cup, filling it. That spell was one alongside four others that he'd learned from that mage. The rest of the spells were named: Tinder, Wind Breath, Create Earth and Freeze. While short names, they accurately relayed what the respective spell did. Tinder would create a small fire, one not large or intense enough to directly damage but capable of starting a much larger one. Wind Breath would summon a small gust of wind from his hands, blowing whatever he'd pointed his hands at away. While not exactly the strongest breeze, it was capable of doing some lifting. Create Earth did what the name implied, summoning a pile of soil to the user. And the last one, Freeze, did what you might assume, it froze things. Again rather simple and inelegant, but efficient names.

"Anything can be used effectively as long as you have the proper mind and mindset to do so. For example, Create Earth!" Soul appeared in his outstretched hand, "With this spell I can already think of a way to combat Thieves and mages capable of turning themselves invisible. Now tell me, what is the spell actually use for?"

"For farming really, that's it," Megumin said.

"Fufufu, is Aurdel going to become a farmer?" Aqua snickered after hearing Megumin's explanation for the skill, "It'd be perfect, you even have Create Water to water the crops! Fufufu!" Aurdel took a deep breath.

"Create Water!" He doused Aqua in water.

"What was that for-?!"

"Wind Breath!" The dirt that was on his palm sprayed out and covered Aqua. And as expected when water and dirt mix, it turned into mud.

"Waaaaah! Aurdel got me all muddy!" She tried to shake off the mud, but it didn't come off easy.

"Freeze!" Lastly the cold shot out from his hand and hit Aqua, freezing the muddy water that she was covered in entirely and causing her to tip and fall over.

"You idiot! You'll pay for this! You'll get divine retribution!"

"Let it be a lesson, underestimate nothing or else you'll be taken out by those you feel beneath yourself."

* * *

Complete nightfall came soon enough, the moon hung up high in the sky above them. Owls hooted, the wind blew and leaves fell. "Aurdel, the quest is to take out a Zombie Maker right?" Aqua asked.

"That's what they thought it would be, but why do you ask?"

"Because I don't think it's going to be a Zombie Maker, I think it's going to be some big shot undead instead."

"And what are you basing that on?"

"I don't know, just a hunch?"

"Well hunch or not you should be ready to deal with them. This quest is for you, after all. Not to mention you said yourself that you wanted to fight high level enemies so if it is some 'big shot undead' then there should be no issue." She grumbled a little bit, "After this we can leave and go back to sleep, all we have to do is take down the Zombie Maker and the undead they raise."

They approached the cemetery with him in the lead, he used his motion detector and Enemy Detection to look for any kind of enemies. Both of them picked up that there were three hostiles in the graveyard, but only Enemy Detection was able to differentiate the fact that three of them were rather weak while the fourth appeared to be extremely strong. Blue and white lines of light appeared in the graveyard all of a sudden, each one emanating from a circle inside it. A figure in black robes stood on the outside of the circle, but from where he was standing and with the lighting there was he was unable to make out their face under the hood they wore.

"I don't think that's a Zombie Maker," Megumin said unconfidently. Normally she probably would have tried to obliterate the person here and now, but she must consider that person to be so much of a threat that she isn't acting like her usual self.

"Even if it isn't a Zombie Maker, anyone who hangs around a graveyard in the middle of the night is totally weird! But they're no match for the great Archpriest Aqua!" Aqua was overconfident in herself, but really that was typical. Darkness drew her sword and anxiously stared at the black hooded figure as if she was waiting for them to do something just so she would have an excuse to charge in and get hit. As for Aurdel he had his own sword and shield drawn, closely watching and trying to get a better view of whoever this person was. "You must be really full of yourself to think it'd be safe for you to show up here, Lich!" Aqua charged in. Lich…?

Because he'd been looking for information about Zombie Makers he'd passingly seen information about Liches. Liches were supposed to be the toughest kind of undead monsters there were out there, on par and possibly above even that of the Vampires. They were most commonly mages who rejected their humanity in exchange for great magical power and immortality, twisting nature around their finger to defy the gods. "Stop! Please stop! You're destroying my magic circle!"

"Shut it you noisy undead! If you didn't want this to happen then you shouldn't have come here!" However the Lich they seemed to encounter was, at least partially, not like that. The Lich threw herself around Aqua's waist in an attempt to get her to stop stomping on her magic circle. Then again that was if this person even was a Lich, knowing Aqua he didn't know if he could trust that judgement.

"Please stop! I'm not doing anything wrong with this magic circle, I'm only sending the spirits on their way! See?!" The Lich pointed to the blue and white wisps rising from the ground and floating up to the sky, so it certainly did seem to be that's what they were doing.

"How rude! A job like this is supposed to be done by a holy Archpriest like me, not a foul undead like you! I'll purify this whole cemetery with you in it!"

"No! Wait-!"

"Turn Undead!" White light encompassed the area of the cemetery, causing the zombies that had risen and stood idly by the side to disappear. Her magic had the same effect on the spirits rising from the magic circle. But it also had an effect on the Lich too.

"Hya-! I'll disappear!" Her hood fell off and the light of Aqua's magic was able to illuminate her face. His heart stopped for a moment when it did. That face reminded him of someone he knew, someone he held dear.

"You foolish Lich! Prepare to be purified by-!" Aurdel threw his shield and it struck Aqua against the side of the head, knocking her down and completely throwing her off track from her magic. The light disappeared. "What the hell Aurdel?!" She shouted, rubbing the side of her head, "That really hurt!" Megumin and Darkness ran up too, confused by what he'd done.

"You're not going to purify her."

"Why not?!"

"Because I said so." He walked over to the fallen Lich, with tears in her eyes and trembling on the ground curled up into a ball. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

She looked semi-transparent, you could partially see the ground through her. He reached out his hand and she took it, allowing herself to be pulled up. She became opaque again. "T-thank you for saving me, I'm okay."

"Do you mind if I ask your name?"

"My name is Wiz, and I'm a Lich." Up close and without Aqua trying to kill here he was able to get a much better look at Wiz's face. She really did resemble the person he was thinking of, the only real difference was the color of Wiz's hair being brown instead of red. But this was all just a side thought.

"Wiz, you said you're sending spirits to heaven right? Isn't that usually a job for Priests?"

"W-well like I said I'm a Lich, the king of the undead. Because of that I'm able to hear the voices of wandering spirits. This cemetery is full of them because the people here are unable to receive proper burials and end up haunting the cemetery, so I visit periodically to send them on their way."

How nice of her. "That's really sweet, but we came here because there were zombies were being raised from the cemetery. Was that your doing?"

"I-it wasn't intentional, believe me! It just happens because of my strong magic, they raise from the dead automatically!"

"Hmm, then it seems we're at an impasse."

"I just say we purify her and-!" Aqua raised her hand to do just that, Wiz hid behind Aurdel. Aurdel meanwhile raised his hand as if to strike Aqua and she backed down.

"We're not going to purify her you rabid woman. Can't you go a day without causing someone else some form of suffering?"

"I do not cause people suffering!"

"Then you should take a closer look at what exactly you do."

"Um, I can't stop raising zombies. But if the spirits don't wander from the cemetery and are sent to heaven then I won't have to come here. What do you want to do…?

"You didn't have to hit me so hard again!"

"You were trying to purify Wiz again when she turned her back, what did you think I was going to do to you?!" Eventually, after Aqua almost purified Wiz again, they were able to come to an agreement. Aqua would have to every so often come to the cemetery and purify all of the spirits there and Wiz would be allowed to live in peace. Personally he was happy with the outcome because of who she reminded me of, but Megumin and Darkness has been hesitant about letting her go. But once they'd confirmed she'd never hurt a person in her life they'd relaxed much more to allow her to leave.

Surprisingly, Wiz lived in town and even appeared to own a shop where she lived a normal human life. He'd have to pay her a visit some time in the future, especially since she'd mentioned that she was willing to teach him some of her skills. "I'm just glad we were able to leave without fighting, I don't we could have won a fight with a Lich even with Aqua here. They're insanely powerful with high amounts of magic resistance, so even I wouldn't be able to damage to her."

"I'm surprised you actually admitted-"

"So I'll keep training with Explosion until I can!"

"Couldn't you at least let me finish my compliment…?"

"Well, I suppose that's another quest completed," Darkness said. Aurdel stopped. "Is something wrong?"

"The quest was to defeat the Zombie Maker…" They looked at him. Quest failed.


	5. Chapter 5

**...Training This Party...**

Quite some time had passed, the rewards for the emergency cabbage harvest quest had finally come in. "Aurdel, look! I had my armor repaired, what do you think?" Darkness gave a little twirl to show it off. "Do I look like a true Crusader?"

"It doesn't look any different than before."

"It is different! I had it reinforced to make it much stronger! I'll be able to take many more hits now," she seemed enthralled with the idea.

"But will be able to take a force greater than a cabbage flying at you?"

"H-how rude! I put all my willpower and strength into that battle! And those two adventurers would have been in serious trouble were it not for my actions."

"The only thing they were in danger of is having a good diet, the larger threat came from one of our own. Speaking of which," he turned, "Stop grinding yourself against that damn thing! This is a public space, show some decency." He was of course referring to Megumin.

"Huff… Huff… I can't take it, this manatite staff is just too much! The magic, the color, the glister…! Huff.. Huff…" There is dedication to an art form, then there is pure perversion. This was pure perversion. She'd been acting this particular the moment she received her staff. That was three hours ago now. How she was able to muster the energy to act in such a way for such a long period of time he had no idea. "I want to go on a quest as soon as possible, I NEED to test out my Explosion magic! With this staff its power is sure to have increased by tenfold!"

"Tenfold is extreme overkill! Why can't you learn a more efficient and useful magic?"

"How dare you mock Explosion magic! Explosion is the greatest of all spells and cannot be rivalled by any other, that's why I've dedicated my whole life towards it!"

"You're only thirteen, why don't you try participating in a war for over twenty years?"

"Why are you bringing up my age?! I'll have you know I'm old enough to marry!"

"What does marriage have to do with any of this?!" He sighed, frustrated. "Forget it, where's Aqua? We can't go for a quest until she's here and she hasn't-" As if by command, the moment that he mentioned her name he could hear her yelling across the other side of the guild.

"Why the hell did I earn so little money?! Don't you see how much cabbage I caught?!" She was practically screaming at the top of her lungs in the middle of the guild, shaking the blonde woman that usually stood by the counter by her collar.

"I'm sorry, but that's the problem! That's not cabbage!"

"Huh?" Aqua stopped shaking her, "What do you mean that it's not cabbage?"

"W-what you caught was mostly lettuce, not cabbage. Lettuce fetches a much lower value."

Aqua during the cabbage hunt had proposed the idea that they all should take their rewards separately, he was fine with that. And she would have gotten a large reward for it too had she actually caught some cabbages as the only person who'd caught more than her was him. Unfortunately for her, her luck seemed to be as good as her attitude towards most things. Extremely shitty. "I can't believe it… I only got fifty thousand…" She walked dejectedly over towards them, "Aurdel, how much did you earn from your harvest?"

"A little more than a million eris."

"One million eris?!" All three members of his party were shocked as the small fortune he'd acquired. Yes, he really had received that much. As said before he'd harvested the most from the quest, spending hours outside when most had already left to make sure there was nothing missed. But on top of that was the fact that with his rather high luck he managed to get a few extra high quality cabbages, ones that boosted his reward greatly. He was satisfied with the amount he made because of the effort he'd put in.

Aqua folded her hands neatly behind her back, perked up and skipped over towards him, "Hey Aurdel-san, I always thought that you're-"

"Shut up with the patronizing and skip to the point."

She threw herself at him while wailing, "Oh please, please lend me some money! I thought I was going to get a lot of money from that quest so I spent all my money and got myself a huge tab! Please, I have a tab of one hundred thousand eris!"

"Sure, I'll give you some money. How much do you need?"

"Really? Thanks," she flipped her hair with a smug expression, "Well, I need fifty thousand eris-"

"Well you can have your fifty thousand eris when you cough up the two hundred thousand eris you still owe me!" He slammed her down. "Did you really think I would be willing to pay more money to cover your damn tabs when I've already spent so much?!"

"Please Aurdel I really need this, I won't be able to pay off my tab if I don't!" She threw herself at his feet. He still couldn't understand how she was supposed to be a Goddess.

"And I'm going to use my money to buy some better equipment and rent an actual place to stay in the city."

"Aurdel, if you're going to rent a place might I come with you?" Megumin asked, "Frankly I'm sick of sleeping in the stables all this time.

"I really don't mind as long as you at least partially pay the rent."

"Why is she getting better treatment than me?! I"m a Goddess for crying out loud!"

"Former Goddess more like, you haven't done anything to prove yourself worthy of the actual title of a Goddess. And as for how you're being treated by me it's the same way I'm trying her. The only difference is that she doesn't actively cause problems, so I don't have to lecture her!"

"Waaaah! Aurdel you're so mean! I can't believe you called me a former Goddess!" She cried aloud. "Please! I'll do anything! Just lend me the money!"

"You'll do anything?" He heard Darkness make a noise, "Quiet you, don't get any funny ideas from this."

"I really do mean anything! Anything! Just please lend me the money!"

"You know what, I'll lend you the money. But I WILL hold you to that promise, no matter what it is or how crazy you think it is." Darkness made another noise, "I said not to get any ideas!" He pulled out a coin purse filled with the amount she needed, then dropped it into Aqua's hands. With that she scurried away towards another corner of the guild where two ruffian looking types were standing. She handed the purse to them, along with one of her own, and then they left after counting the money. Clearly she'd picked the wrong people to borrow money from. She walked back over once she was done.

"Now that I've paid off my debts-"  
"SOME of your debts."  
"-we should go on a quest, so I'll be able to afford eating tonight." Of course, the first thing she thought of was money. But he wouldn't argue with finding a quest to do since that was just something they had to do.

"Yes! We should! I want to go on one with a huge amount of weak monsters, there's no true way to test out this staff without obliterating an enemy army!"

"I already told you to stop rubbing your staff like that!"

"No! We need one with extremely powerful enemies, I want to test the limits of my strength and my new armor!"

"No you don't, you only want to do that because you find pleasure in pain you pervert!"

"I-I am not a pervert!"

"You've done nothing to suggest otherwise!"

"Well I think we should take a quest that will earn us a lot of money, and where I would get the bigger cut! Because I still have other debts I need to pay off."

"How is it possible to be so bad with financing that you're constantly hundreds of thousands in debt?!

"Don't blame me, I am a Goddess after all. I always need the best treatment and that treatment happens to be expensive!"

"If you're a Goddess of anything it's of poverty and misfortune, try to be a little more responsible for yourself!"

"How dare you insult me like that, you'll receive divine retribution for that!" They all walked over to the guild's work board. "Hey, where are all the quests?!"

Aqua was right to question, for once. The only quests that happened to be on the board were ones that were absurdly difficult and high leveled. There was nothing that they could take that wouldn't get the others in his party killed. "I'm sorry," the lady by the counter said, "All of the weaker monsters have gone into hiding, a General of the Demon King moved into a nearby castle recently. Because of that there's been a sharp decrease in requests and jobs for the guild to complete. So I'm sorry but you'll have to wait until the General is defeated to take any of the usual quests. But there is a group of Knights on their way from the capital to defeat him. Though, it may take some time before they arrive."

"Well that's just great!" Aqua wailed, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Why are you always so quick to whine? I already have the perfect idea."

"Really? What is it?" Darkness asked.

"It's something long overdo, something I don't anything any of you have actually undergone."

"Something we haven't undergone?"

"Yes, none of you have any true more of discipline. So-"

"Oh just tell us already you shitty old man!" Aqua shouted, he slapped her hard.

* * *

"You know when you said training… I didn't imagine this," Megumin said. The four of them were outside of town on one of the paths leading outwards.

"Training is imperative for everyone, no matter who they are or what their jobs are. Some manner of discipline is required for anything and you three completely lack discipline in the right areas."  
"Sure, but what could we possibly do that we don't already do to train ourselves? I already use Explosion every day, even when we aren't on a quest."

"You're not using it for the sake of training, you're doing that for the sake of time wasting. And besides you're only focusing on one thing, to have true discipline you must build up a variety of skills and abilities. It's the same thing for all of you."

"I-I have discipline!" Darkness protested.

"Discipline in the wrong thing! You're seeking pleasure instead of actual performance!"

"I d-do not!"

"Yes you do! And Aqua, you have no sense of strategy or situational awareness!" She wasn't even paying attention, which was more than enough to prove his point. "And Megumin, you might have one powerful spell that it. Physically you're weak, I doubt you could even hold your own against a kid younger than you!"

"How dare you! You should watch your tongue, because I haven't even used my true Explosion spell yet!"

"And that's why for as long as we have and as long as it takes, I will train you to be better!"

"And how are you going to do that?" Megumin asked.

"Well to start with, physical exercise. You three are all going to sprint down that path until I tell you to stop, and it has to be as fast as you can for as long as you can."

"And if we don't want to?"

"Then I'll make you," he pulled the shield off of his back. "For every time that you go to slow or you refuse to keep going, I'll hit you with my shield. And I'll keep doing it until you do go." They gulped, "So, I suggest you get started quick." That was all the encouragement Aqua and Megumin needed because they sprinted off right away. Darkness on the other hand, didn't.

"Go on then, hit me!"

"No."

"No..?"

"No, because I knew that if I did this that you would purposely fall behind just so I hit you. So I'm not going to. If you really want to be hit so much then you should just wait until we get to actual combat training, when we get there I won't hold-" Darkness sprinted off as fast as she could, "-back. Hmph, promising her that is like handing alcohol to an alcoholic, or an Aqua, but there's no other option here." Not to completely fall behind and not keep true to what he said, he sprinted down the path too.

Aurdel was by no means the fastest of the Spartans around, that title was only claimable by Kelly, but he was by no means slow or incapable. So with his abilities he was quickly able to catch up with all three of them. All of them were panting as they ran, he dropped his pace slightly to run alongside them. "Not bad, but can you keep it up?" They all looked at him, then back down the path they were running on. That was when he noticed Aqua's pace falling, beginning to fall behind. He moved behind them and started to pull the shield off his back again, Aqua saw this and shrieked. With a sudden burst of energy she charged ahead, exceeding her previous pace.

"Ehh?! Aqua, why are you running so fast?!"

"I didn't tell you this before so I'll tell you now. I"m also measuring your paces against each other, so if Aqua is going much faster than you…"

He drifted behind Megumin as she thought it over and put two and two together. She picked up her pace to try and catch up with Aqua. Darkness still ended up running ahead of the other two with dust kicking up in their wake. After running 5 miles in half an hour he decided to let them stop. When they did, they were completely exhausted and drenched with sweat. "Please… please tell me that's it for physical exercise," Megumin coughed out

"Not even close, but I will give you some time to rest your legs. So one hundred push ups, go!"

"I thought you said you were going to let us rest?!" Aqua squealed.

"I said you were going to rest your legs, you don't use them for pushups. Now get started!" The three of them dropped to the ground and started doing pushups, he went down and did it alongside them.

His form was perfect and his pace was excellent, leagues above the others. Within a short time he'd completed all one hundred of the pushups. The second person to finish was Darkness. She had a lot of stamina and was easily able to do it, though her pace seemed a little rush. If anything was behind it, it was probably the anticipation of the beating she wanted. Surprisingly the next person to finish was Megumin, followed then by Aqua. He would've expected Aqua to finish before her but given how she'd disappointed with everything else it shouldn't be a surprise to him. "One hundred sit ups!"

"Who the hell trains like this?!" Aqua screamed.

"Spartans, courtesy of Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez."

"I'LL MAKE SURE HE GETS DIVINE RETRIBUTION FOR THIS."

"Good luck trying." They all did their one hundred situps.

Aqua and Megumin both collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, but Darkness was still raring to go. "Here, have some water. Create Water!" He filled three tall glasses with cold water, they drank them done quickly.

"I feel like I've done more exercise today… than I've done in my whole life…" Aqua wheezed.

"Good, that means it's a good workout."

"Aurdel, what's next on the list?" Darkness asked, anticipating.

"Combat training." Her face lit up with excitement.

"I'll be your first partner!" And she jumped up to meet him.

"Stand there," he pointed to a position to the grass and she walked over to it. "We're not going to be training with weapons, we'll be training with hand to hand. Most combat here is close range anyways so it's ideal to know how to fight like this. And I won't hold back either, with Aqua here able to heal any injury we don't have to worry about getting hurt."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Aurdel got into a combat stance, Darkness sloppily mimicked it. They stared at each other for three seconds, then Darkness attacked first. She moved quickly and tried to land an extremely telegraphed punch on him but he sidestepped out of the way. Now behind her he dealt a swift kick to her back, completely throwing her off balance and onto the ground.

"If I'd kicked any that would have severed your spine, you'd be paralyzed from the waist down."

"I thought you said you weren't going to hold back!" She rolled over and shot up.

"There's a difference between holding back and actively attempting to kill, for example." As he came in to strike him he elbowed her in the face, then wrapped both his arms around her head pulling it down. He dealt two strong knees to her stomach, then released her and kicked her down again. "There were at least a dozen ways I could have killed you then, you're too open and telegraphed."

"But I won't give up!" She stood up again, a little shakily. She charged towards him.

"But at this point, you should." He grabbed her wrist as she tried to strike his stomach, then dealt her a blow to the abdomen. She toppled over clutching her stomach.

There were practical tears in her eyes as she rolled around, "W-what, what is this pain?!"

"That was a blow to your liver. You're strong to knock have not been knocked out by it, not many can." Wait a minute, she enjoyed pain. He really shouldn't have hit a place that essentially overloaded a person's body with it. "But that's enough with you. Aqua, heal her. Megumin, you're up."

"Do I really have to do this?" She stood up and walked over.

"Yes, you do. Even if you use magic you should know how to fight in close quarters." He would have to actually hold back with her. Because while he said he hadn't been holding back with Darkness, he really was. Theoretically he could cave their skulls in with his fist so long as he punched hard enough so there was a lot of room for error. He moved into a combat stance, again Megumin tried to mimic what he'd done. A few seconds passed. He figured Megumin wouldn't make the first move so he'd have to move in first. He launched forward and angled his shoulder down, crashing it into her chest. She went down fast. She sprawled out on the ground. She wasn't dead, but she was clearly in a lot of pain. Yeah, she wasn't going to keep fighting. "Aqua, can you heal Megumin. Then once you do that it's your turn."

"Heal!" Aqua healed Megumin who sat up holding her head.

"Go easy on me, okay?" Aqua said, trying to get into a combat stance first.

"No chance," he moved into his stance. A second passed and the both of them charged forward.

"Gow Blow!" Aqua tried using one of her skills on him, he managed to sidestep it and grab her wrists. "Uh oh…"

"Don't use skills, just your wits." He lifted her up and tossed her over his back and onto the grass. She wasn't getting up either. "I was considering doing strategic training after this, but after what I just saw I don't think any of you are able to think straight."

"I think my vision is going sideways," Aqua said, stumbling around like she was drunk after she got up.  
"You could never see straight to begin with."

"How dare you, God Blow!" She tried to swing and hit him but missed by a wide margin, she threw herself off balance and fell to the grass again.

"Aurdel, while we're here can I use my Explosion spell? It'd encourage me a lot to keep doing this if you let me."

"Fine, find a place to blow up then let loose." She stood up and began to walk, he followed her. He could tell that she was tired from the fact that she was physically trembling, he was honestly surprised she could move at all. Then again he'd trained as intensely as this at age six upwards.

"There, that's the perfect spot." Megumin pointed towards a decrepit castle off in the distance. He was considering protesting, but he didn't bother. Megumin raised her staff, "Crimson-black blaze, king of myriad worlds, though I promulgate the laws the nature I am the alias of destruction incarnate in accordance with the principles of creation. Let the hammer of eternity descend unto me! Explosion!" And all of the energy that had built up let loose, blasting off into the distance and striking the castle. The resulting explosion was indeed several times the power of the usual. Megumin fell over onto the ground, "By the way, you're going to have to carry me back."

"Clever girl," he picked her up and she smiled.

**...Headless Hopeless Horseman...**

He wasn't sure if these three would ever improve. They'd been training for the last week since no new quests had opened up and nothing had changed. Darkness was far too telegraphed and allowed herself to be hit, Megumin couldn't take a hit and Aqua was just… Aqua. The only consistent fact about the whole ordeal was that he seemed to be the only one truly putting effort into the ordeal. He shook his head thinking about it all. Right now they were in the dining hall of the guild, the others were eating breakfast before they went out to train again. As far as they'd seen none of the quests were bound to open up any time soon so he'd keep training them even if it killed him… or them, that was more likely to be completely honest. He simply stood by their sides when the lady that usually stood at the counter came running into the dining hall.

"Emergency! Emergency! All Adventurers please arm yourselves and gather at the front gate at once, prepare for battle!" Another emergency? Could this be a real one, or could it be another joke of an emergency like a harvest? There was no way to be sure of it unless they checked it out.

"Leave your breakfast, we're going with everyone else now."

"But I want to finish eating!" He grabbed Aqua and pulled her away by the arm, she tried clinging onto the table to stay and eat but he easily overpowered her. Within minutes they had their gear and were out the door of the guild, rushing towards the front of the town.

By the time they had made it their most of the other armed adventurers had arrived, only a few others were behind but ultimately did show up. A dark armored figured sat off on a horse in the distance, standing upon a hill outside of the town overlooking them all. Purple lightning struck behind it and illuminated both the figure and the horse it rode upon. Neither it nor it's steed had a head. Rather, the man, if he could be called that, held his head in his arms and by his side. "Who is that? What's going on?" Aqua asked, ever unaware

"A Dullahan…" Darkness muttered, staring at it. She pulled out her sword.

"My name is Beldia, I am a General of the Demon King's Army. And I am the one who moved into abandoned castle nearby. And every day, every GOD DAMNED DAY, for the past week some maniac has been firing Explosion magic at my castle and I demand to know WHO!" His anger was emphasized by another strike of lightning, along with him making his horse whine and stand up on two legs. Mmm, a few dots connected in his head. Abandoned house? Explosion magic? A week? Yeah, that was there doing. He really shouldn't have let Megumin done as she pleased just because she said she would put effort towards training if he let her do so. He even had a gut feeling at the time that told him not to let her, but he'd ignored it. Meanwhile all those around her knew of only one person in town who could use Explosion magic, everyone stared at her.

Megumin was trembling with fear, her staff shaking in her hands. Any confidence she had in destroying that castle before was lost now. But he knew that she might regain that confidence at any moment and, trying to show off, confront the Dullahan. He wasn't going to let that happen. He stepped forward, "Hey Aurdel, where are you going?!" Aqua shouted after him. He pushed his way through the crowd of adventurers and made his way to the front, eventually stepping out into view of the Dullahan.

"You're the one with a screw loose that has been firing Explosion magic at my castle every day?! You're picking a fight with the knowledge that I'm a General of the Demon King, so come and fight me fairly! So why the hell are you doing it?! Why are you harassing me like this?! I chose to let all you small fry live but you keep coming by and going boom, boom boom!"

Beldia allowed him a chance to respond, "I did it all to drag you out in the open, coming here was your mistake. Having Explosion magic fired at you constantly was just part of my plan to do so and it worked without flaw." There was a murmuring of voices behind him, he couldn't look to see how they were reacting without his bluff being completely broken.

"You… you don't look like an Archwizard," Beldia said.

"Looks are deceiving, were it not for your declaration I would have mistaken you for an imp." He heard Beldia grumble at his insult.

"All I'm asking you is to stop your attacks, is that too much to ask? I'm not here for you pipsqueaks."

"Never."

"So be it then, I'll just have to make an example of you." The Dullahan raised his free hand, a black glow surrounded it. Aurdel drew his sword and shield in response. "I knew it! You're no mage. But that's beyond the point now." He pointed his gauntlet at Aurdel, "In one week from now, you will die!" The black glow flew off of Beldia's hand and soared towards him. He didn't know what it was, but he was going to have to take it head on. Because of the way he was positioned it would hit any of the other adventurers behind him should he move, meaning that they would take the hit. He wasn't willing to let other people be sacrificed. The black glow struck him and turned into a mist, forming and shaping up into a constantly distorting and laughing skull. After a few moments it disappeared.

"Aurdel!" Both Darkness and Megumin ran up to him.

"It seems we've found the true culprit to the Explosions, but no matter. My point has been made," he pointed to Megumin. "Let this man's suffering be an example to you of what happens to those who oppose the Demon King and his army. If you do want to save him, however, come to my castle. If you make it the whole way through I might lift the curse. Granted, I don't think you'll live long enough to do that." Beldia laughed and walked away, disappearing into a wall of smoke and flames.

"Why… Why did you do it?" Megumin asked him, not looking him in the face.

"I'm not going to let someone else die if I can't help it."

"But you're going to die now!" She looked up, it looked like there were tears in her eyes.

"Then I'll die," she didn't seem happy with that respond. "Or we could take that Dullahan up on his offer, attack his castle." She nodded to that.

"If you're going, then I'm going too," Darkness said, "As a Crusader it's my job to protect others, I wouldn't be doing it if I let Aurdel died."

Megumin perked up, "What about you Aqua? Are you going to-?"

"Sacred Break Spell!" Aqua shot off some of her magic at him, it stung like hell when it hit him. After it disappeared two cherub like figures descended from above and lifted a dark cloud from him. "That Dullahan's curses are no match for the power of a Goddess!"

…

"Die," Megumin whacked her hard with her staff.


	6. Chapter 6

**...A Day at the Lake...**

Another week passed by, this time since the day that Beldia had arrived at Axel. And during that time he'd kept training his party the best that he could. Again, unfortunately, it didn't seem like they were going to improve any time soon. But Megumin had stopped casting her spell on that castle so Beldia wouldn't be showing up again. Not everybody was happy though. "I want to go on a quest!" Aqua slammed her fists on the table.

"And I want to go home, what's to it?"

"I'm sick of your training! I don't care if it's a hard quest, I want something that'll earn me money!"

"How altruistic of you. Training has its purpose, you missed it if you don't know what it is."

"I know the value of training," Megumin said, "But I have to agree with Aqua that I'd rather take a hard quest than keep going on with your training."

"I suppose if you agree too."

"Don't I have a say in this?" Darkness asked.

"Frankly? No. You'd enjoy either option far too much."

"Kyu, so cruel." That was about the reaction he expected out of her..

"Well if you want to go and pick a quest, go ahead." He motioned for her to go and do it, she did.

"You know… I don't entirely trust Aqua to pick a quest. She might pick something unreasonable difficult and impossible to complete," Megumin pointed out.

"I-I would be fine with that," Darkness said.

"Shut it pervert," she shook from his words, "But you are right, that does sound like something she would do. I'll check on her, just make sure Darkness doesn't go any further."

"Go any further with what?" He ignored that last question and walked over towards the board where Aqua was, she was scanning all of the papers on it.

Her pointed finger hovered over a few, then she pointed at one in particular and pulled it off, "Good!" He snatched it from her right away.

"What the hell do you mean good? Let me see this." She tried to take it back from his hands, but he blocked her with one arm. "'A Manticore and Griffin are fighting over territory, please kill both of them. The reward is five hundred thousand eris.' Are you absolutely stupid?!" He stuck the paper back on the board. "You can't defeat a frog let alone a Manticore or Griffin! What the hell are you doing picking out a quest like that?!"

"I told you, I need the-"

"Hold on, this better not be the preface to you saying that you have even MORE debt you have to pay off!"

…

"What's a preface?"

"Oh you blue idiot!" He hit the wall, then pointed at her, "If I cracked open that head of yours would I even find a brain there?! How did you accumulate even more debt already?!" She was about to speak, "You know what, forget it. Just pick out a quest you idiots can actually DO or else I'm gifting this guild a new Picasso painting with a red color palette." Carefully now, she scanned the board to find a quest. She'd hovered over a few horrible choices but eventually she did choose one.

"How about this? 'The town's lake has been polluted and a group of brutal alligators have moved in, we request for someone to purify the lake. Once purified the monsters will leave the lake so there is no reason to fight them. The reward is three hundred thousand eris!' It's perfect for me!"

"Can you actually purify water?"  
"Of course I can! Don't you remember what I'm the Goddess of?"

"Debt, misfortune, poverty, alcoholism, party tricks-"

"Goddess of Water! I'm the Goddess of Water you idiot! You don't have to be so rude. And you should be able to tell by the color of my eyes and hair!"

"Can't see it behind the rotten personality. If you're so confident in your ability why don't you take the quest alone?"

"Why not? Because there are monsters! How am I supposed to purify the lake while there are monsters around?!"

"And how long would purifying the lake take?"

"Around… half the day?"

"Yeah, good luck with that "

"Please! I really need the money this time!"

"How do you even purify things anyways?"

"Well, there is purification magic. But my godly presence should purify the water just by touching it."

"Godly presence huh? I'd be surprised if the ten plagues didn't rain down because of it."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means I think you're a detriment to humanity."

"How dare you! God Blo-!" He whacked her hard with his shield, there was a solid thunk and then a crash as she hit the floor.

"Is Aqua going to be okay?" Megumin asked, concerned.

"I'd be pleasantly surprised if she wasn't. Now come on, we have our quest to do so grab your gear so we can move out." And with that they grabbed their and left the guild, Aqua swung over his shoulder. The lake in question was reasonably far out of town but was within walking distance, so they didn't need to worry about getting any form of horse transport. The lake itself sat in a rather well levelled out area in a large clearing, though the place that he'd be standing at was located on a hill not too far from the lake. When he'd heard that this quest involved Aqua, monsters and having to fight off the latter he already had a plan in mind.

"Aurdel, are you absolutely sure that this is safe? I thought you said that didn't want to let someone else if you couldn't help it?"

"I have an obligation not to let other people die, not to make sure they come out one hundred percent uninjured. Besides, they'll be fine. You hit Darkness with Explosion before-"

"That was an accident!"

"-and I've hit her more than enough times. If she can take all of that and still come out standing she'll be perfectly fine here with a few monsters."  
"And Aqua?"

"The fact that she isn't dead already is a testament to how something somewhere wants to keep her alive." But to make sure that Aqua actually stayed and did her job, instead of running away when the monsters came in to attack, they had her chained to a large weight that they dropped into the lake. Only he had the key.

"Aurdel?! Do we really have to do it this way?!" Aqua shouted to him from the lake, he was standing on the hill near it."

"Do we?! No! But now that we're doing it this way you can TRY and convince Darkness not to do this!" He told her that because he figured Darkness wouldn't budge at all from this plan. That was because this plan involved her staying in the lake as bait, occupying the monsters until Aqua had the lake entirely purified. Obviously, given who she was and what she was into she wasn't going to give any ground on the topic. Good for him, bad for Aqua.

"Then what do we do?" Megumin asked.

"We? We wait." He sat down on the grass under the tree, "We wait until Darkness somehow gets in over her head with the monsters, then you blow them away."

"And what do you do?"

"If this goes all as intended? Hopefully nothing. If you mess up your shot or more keep coming up to attack? I'll help hold off the monsters."

"I see…" Megumin too sat down on the grass in the shade. A long amount of time passed by as they sat there, roughly two hours. He could hear Aqua and Darkness' conversations all the way from up here because of both his helmet and keen sense of hearing.

"Hey Aqua, I thought there were supposed to be giant, ferocious alligators here?"

"There are. Haven't you seen them?"

"No, all I've seen are the tiny fish swimming around. Most of them are swarming around you."

"Oh well, the fish can't be helped. After all, I am the Goddess of Water."

"It is rather pitiful to call yourself a Goddess…"

"Why don't you or anyone else believe me?!" Aqua splashed around in the lake throwing a fit.

"Hey Aqua!" He called out to her, "How's the purification process going?!"

"Good!" She gave a thumbs up to him, then turned. "I don't actually know how well it's going." He couldn't help but sigh hearing that and shook his head.

"Well hurry up! Sitting in water like that all day is going to get you sick!"

"I already told you it's going well! What do you want from me?!"

"To finish this job!"

"If I weren't chained up over here I"d go over there and punch you right now!" She shouted back, shaking her fist at him. He noticed ripples on the water off in the distance.

"Here they come!" Darkness shouted with glee.

"Huh?!" Aqua was caught off guard by it. That it was around a dozen purple alligators the size of Scorpion main battle tanks.

Darkness, as he would've expected, just straight into the midst of all of them. Aqua watched in horror as they attacked her and started chanting her magic into the water. "PURIFICATION! PURIFICATION! PURIFICATION! AURDEL, I WANT TO GET OUT OF THE LAKE!"

"You're not getting out of the lake until it's all purified! That's the job, remember?!"

"PURIFICATION! PURIFICATION!" She screamed as she saw one of the alligators move away from Darkness and come towards her. Because of the weight chained to her leg, she was only able to run in circles away from it. "AURDEL, COME HELP ME ALREADY!"

"Think of that alligator as encouragement to get the job done quicker!"

"YOU'LL RECEIVE DIVINE RETRIBUTION FOR THIS!"

"Try me! I've already died once!"

"Aurdel, shouldn't we help them?" Megumin asked.

"No, not yet. Aqua is working faster because of the alligators and Darkness would complain if we stopped it now. We'll wait until the situations get bad before moving in." And so waited they a little while longer. It took about ten minutes for that to happen.

"AURDEL, HELP-!" Aqua disappeared into the mouth of the alligator.

"Alright, now we can help. Megumin?"

"Explosion!"

* * *

"Aqua, get up already. I'm not carrying you back, I already have Megumin on my back."

"No… I don't want to. I want to stay on the ground where it's safe." How unfortunate, she seems to have been traumatized by the experience. Oh well. They still had to go into the city to collect their reward for the quest.

"If you don't get up and start walking, I'm just going to tie a rope to you and drag you along." Aqua didn't say anything in response, but she also didn't get up.

"Aurdel, you're not serious about dragging her along are you?" Megumin asked him, he pulled out a length of rope.

"No, I'm serious," he tied a rope around Aqua's waist. Then he began to drag her along the ground away from the lake.

"You know, I bet it's really fun to be treated like that," Darkness said with a blush in her cheeks.

"Can't you think of something else besides ways to get off?"

"O-of course I can! I am a Crusader, it is insulting to put down my abilities like that."

"But you probably got a little excited by me insulting you, didn't you?"

"I-I did not."

"No, you did." They kept along the path back to Axel, Megumin on his back and Aqua dragging on the ground behind him.

People stared at him as they walked into town, it wasn't exactly a common sight to see a man with a child on his back dragging an Archpriest on the ground with a battered Crusader following in tow. "Aqua, you are not going to stay on the ground the whole time. Are you?"

"I don't wanna get up… it's not safe…" She stayed on the ground, curled into a ball.

"Look, you're the one that picked that quest. You really have no one to blame but-"

"..Lady Aqua! Lady Aqua! What are you doing here?!" A man with blonde hair and a set of cobalt blue armor ran over towards them and drew his sword. With a swing the man cut the rope around Aqua's waist. "What is a Goddess doing being dragged along the ground like some beast off to the slaughter?!"

"Hey," Darkness said, "What are you doing speaking to Aqua like that? You've only just met her. So who are you?"  
He crouched down by Aqua's side since she was still lying on the ground. "Aqua, do you know this guy? He knows your name and knows that you're a Goddess."

"Goddess?"

"Yeah, a Goddess."

…

"Oh yeah, I'm a Goddess!"

"You idiot! How could you forget what you are?!" He yelled at her as she sprung up from the ground.

"You monster, how dare you yell at Lady Aqua like that!" The man said, "Have you no respect for the gods?"

"She's anything but one."

Aqua fluffed her hair, then looked at the blonde man. "Who are you again?"

"It's me, Mitsurugi Kyouya! I was the one that you gifted the Cursed Sword Gram and sent to save this world from the Demon King! Don't you remember?"

"Oh yeah, sword guy!" She made it sound like she remembered who this guy was, but the look in her eyes said otherwise. "Sorry, I just totally forgot because we send so many of you guys here to defeat him. Can't help but lose track a little bit of who gets what."

"R-right, I suppose that's excusable. But I have been working every day since you sent me here, to prepare myself to defeat the Demon King. I'm a level thirty seven sword master, and recently I cleaved straight through a dragon with one blow. But… what are you doing here? No less being dragged around by this man?" Mitsurugi pointed at him.

"Hey, you have no right to call him 'this man,'" Megumin said, "Can't you show some respect? You just met him."

But Mitsurugi ignored Megumin for now. Instead, he listened as Aqua recounted everything to him since her being brought here. "And that's everything," she said.

"W-what?! You dragged her here?! You abandoned her for two weeks?! You allowed her to be eaten by frogs?! You hit her for her mistakes and verbally abuse her?! And you threw her into a lake to be attacked by alligators?!"

"Yes to all of the above except the last one. I threw Darkness into the lake to be attacked by alligators, I threw Aqua in so she'd purify it."

"What could you possibly be thinking to commit such cruel acts against a Goddess?!" Mitsurugi grabbed a hold of his chestplate and tried to shake him, Aurdel didn't budge.

"W-wait a minute!" Aqua said, "I don't mind it that much anymore, I got over being dragged here! I'm actually having fun too despite everything!"

"Lady Aqua, I don't know how he convinced you otherwise but this man is evil. Where have you been sleeping while you've been here?"

"In the stables."

"You made a Goddess sleep in the stables? You monster!" Mitsurugi turned back to Aurdel and tried to put his hands around his throat. Unfortunately for him, his armor and undershot were even more dense than he was being right now.

"Get your hands off Aurdel," Darkness said, "While he has done those things he is not the monster you claim he is, otherwise he would know." He… he really didn't know if she was helping the situation.

Mitsurugi looked at both Darkness and Megumin. "An Archwizard and a Crusader? You truly are blessed to have such members in your party, but it is a shame that you treat them so poorly," Mitsurugi extended a hand out towards them, "Ladies, I offer you the chance to join my party. If you do, I'll buy you all the highest quality gear there is."

All three of them looked at each other and huddled around to discuss his offer, "Frankly this guy really creeps me out. He seems like the narcissistic pretty boy type, I don't like him." Puhahaha, the man who actually praised this sham of a Goddess was being rejected.

"I want to blow him up. Let me blow him up." He would consider letting Megumin blow him up, but they were in town so he wasn't going to.

"I doubt that man would treat me like Aurdel does. He doesn't seem like the cold ruthless type, rather he looks like the one to try and pamper me. I wouldn't enjoy that." …

"Well that settles it then, you've been straight up rejected by all three of them. Alright guys let's go." They all began to walk away when Mitsurugi jumped in front of them.

"Hold it! I can't allow Lady Aqua to stay in the care of someone such as yourself. Therefore I offer you a wager. We will duel. If I win Lady Aqua comes with me, if you win, I'll grant you any one request." Any one request? That meant if he won he could take that powerful sword of his for himself. He was also remembering the fact that when you killed something it gave you experience. That extended to people too. And even if by some ungodly accident and he lost it would still be a net gain, because then he wouldn't have to deal with Aqua. It was a win win situation either way.

"Alright, here I come. Create Earth! Wind Breath!" Aurdel blew the dirt into Mitsurugi's eyes, he clutched then in response and was unable to draw his weapon. Aurdel meanwhile charged straight towards him and pulled the shield off his back, then bashed it forwards and upwards. There was a crack as his head bent into an unhealthy angle and his neck snapped. Mitsurugi fell backwards dead. There was a shriek from two other voices, they were his two party members.

"M-murder!" They shouted at him. He ignored them and walked over to Mitsurugi's body, picking up the sword.

"Aqua, how powerful is this sword?"

"Very, but only in his hands."

"Only in his hands?"

Yeah. Unfortunately the only person that can use it's special power is this person it was given to, and he's the idiot that received it."

"Give his sword back!" Those two others shouted at him, "You didn't fight fair and stole it!"

"There's no fair in the word fight, honor is meaningless to me." He turned to them and they drew their weapons, "I'll fight both of you if you try anything. I don't hesitate when it comes to men nor women, that's the mistake of chivalry." He lifted Gram and pointed it towards them. "So what will it be?"

"S-steal!" The Thief among the two tried using steal on them, a large rock appeared in their hand. "W-what?!"

"You choose to fight, so be it." Like a flash of lightning he bolted towards them. Before they could react he batted the head of the Thief with the wide end of Gram. The other one, a Swordsman, raised her sword as he brought it down. Gram, with his strength added to it, cut straight through it. Fear filled her face. Using his free hand, he struck that same face. Within a matter of moments they were both down. He'd won. "Alright Aqua, make sure they're not dead. And you can resurrect people right? Resurrect our blonde idiot on the ground there."

"Sure can do boss," Aqua happily walked over to Mitsurugi's corpse, searched it and took his rather large coin purse and then performed some manner of rites for him. Then she cast healing spells on both the Thief and Swordsman. After that, they left.

* * *

The next day they went to the guild to pick up their reward. "Well, I think that quest was more than worth it. It wasn't too bad and it paid well," Aurdel said

"You're only saying that because you weren't the one in the lake!"

"Actually, I thought it was worthwhile as well. Having those ferocious alligators attack me in such a monsterous manner, biting me all over with their sharp teeth and trashing me all around. It truly was an experience."

"M-Megumin?!"

"I'm happy because I went up a few levels blowing up those alligators."

"Waaaah! None of you care about how I feel."

"Yeah, that's a fair statement." He put away his portion of the money that they'd split up.

"Aurdel Ganowicz!" The door to the guild slammed open, he looked over.

"Christ, this guy again…" he muttered.

"I don't know who you think you are, defeating me in such a disgraceful manner. But you have gone too far! Not only did you attack me the way you did, but you also attacked my companions!"

"They acted first, it was purely self defense. You're just lucky they didn't end up the same way you did." Mitsurugi practically growled hearing that.

"Lady Aqua, I simply cannot allow you to stay with such a brute of a man," he put a hand on Aqua's shoulder. "I swear to you that I will defeat the Demon King, so please-"

He quietly whispered, "Wind Breath!" The force from his spell was enough to knock Mitsurugi partially off balance and he ended up shoving Aqua.

Aurdel heard a glass tip over. "You… you spilled my favorite bubbly…"

"Lady Aqua, I apologize. Allow me to-"

"GOD BLOW!" Aqua struck Mitsurugi across the face and knocked him to the floor. "Think you can attack me in public, huh?!"

"An enemy?!" Megumin shouted. The both of them began kicking. He looked over, Darkness was at one of the tables sipping wine. After taking one last sip she ran over and began kicking him too, unsurprisingly she missed every single one but the effort was still appreciated

* * *

**Cheat User: **Mitsurugi Kyouya

**Cheat Ability: **Cursed Sword Gram

**Status: **Temporarily retired, Gram taken and armor pawned off

* * *

"Hey guys, how much money do you think I can get for this?" Aqua held up the armor she'd taken off of Mitsurugi.

"Quite a bit, that is a high quality set of armor after all."

"Perfect! Hopefully after I pawn this off I'll have enough money left over to buy some drinks!" Aqua gave one last hard kick to the man before walking back to the bar, "Excuse me! I'd like-!"

"Emergency! Emergency! All Adventurers please arm yourselves and gather at the front gate at once, prepare for battle! Adventurer Aurdel Ganowicz's party in particular as quickly as possible please!"


	7. Chapter 7

**...A Demon vs A Dullahan...**

"How the hell are you not dead?!" Beldia shouted.

"Why should I be?" Aurdel asked. For some reason Beldia had come back to Axel. And like last time, he was furious. "What I should be asking is why are you here? We stopped hurling Explosion magic at your castle, you have no reason to bother us."

"Like hell you've stopped throwing Explosion magic at me! For the past week it's been nothing but Explosion after Explosion! Again!" He got more angry, "Not to mention, I thought that your joke of a party would have at least come to my castle to save your life!"

"Fufufu, the Dullahan is angry because I broke his weak curse! And here he was thinking that I was probably some weak Priest he shouldn't bother with. Little did he know, he is in the presence of a Goddess!"

"You call yourself a Goddess?" Beldia questioned.

"I am a Goddess! You'll pay for insulting me!"

"What do you want Beldia?" Aurdel asked.

"I want that mage's head!" He pointed at Megumin, Aurdel stepped in front of her.

"Well I'm not going to give it to you."

"A shame. Undead Knights! Slaughter-!"

"Turn Undead!" Aqua cast some of her purification magic on the Dullahan out of nowhere.

"AAAAAAH!" The Dullahan's horse was vaporized by the blast of magic, the General himself fell to the ground, rolling around and screaming in pain. Eventually he stopped and stood up. He was panting and his armor was smoldering.

"Aurdel, my magic isn't working! What do I do?" What did she mean by her magic 'not working?' It looked rather effective to him. Beldia's horse disappeared and the General himself had been screaming in pain, that was proof enough of it's function.

"Hit him with something stronger."

Beldia pointed his free hand out, "Undead Knights-!"

"Sacred Turn Undead!" Aqua fired her magic again.

Beldia rolled around on the grass, again. This time the effect of the magic was a blue and white pillar of light rising from the ground and shooting off towards the sky. It seemed to even pierce the clouds and left a hole in them once it had disappeared. "H-how can a beginner's magic-?!" He was unable to finish his sentence.

"Sacred Turn Undead!"

"AHHHH!" Beldia rolled around again. "STOP WITH THE MAGIC AND LET ME FINISH MY-"

"Sacred Turn Undead!"

"STOP-"

"Sacred Turn Undead!"

"ENOUGH!" He managed to get out of the way of her attacks and spoke as quickly as he could, "UNDEAD KNIGHTS, SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!"

Dark armored figures rose from the dirt and charged towards the large group of adventurers standing outside the gates of Axel. Aurdel drew his sword, everyone else drew their own weapons and braced themselves for a fight. Or at least, they had until… "Why are they only going after me?!" Aqua started to run. As she said, the undead knights only seemed to be going after her. The crowd of adventurers scattered as the undead knights came close and passed by while chasing Aqua. A few of them stopped to attack the adventurers, but not enough to actually be any considerable threat to them.

"Well then, I already have a plan in mind. Megumin, do you think you could hit all those undead chasing after Aqua?"

"I could, I can't right now. I would need them to all be gathered in one area to make sure I get them all. They're too scattered." That was something he could fix.

"Alright, I'll get them grouped up. Just make sure your spell it ready when I tell you to fire it." He turned, "And Darkness, while it may not seem important I want you to make sure none of the others adventurers are caught in the blast. The less friendly fire incidents the better."

"We got it Aurdel," the two of them gave a thumbs up and ran off to do their respective tasks. He sprinted out into the grass surrounding Axel. Aurdel wasn't exactly sure why the undead knights were almost all chasing after Aqua. Could it be because she was a Goddess meant for sending spirits off to the afterlife? That'd make sense since they were dead, possibly spirits enslaved by that Dullahan without a chance for redemption. Regardless, right now that fact was besides the point. The point was that they were chasing after Aqua and Aqua only. That meant if he was going to have to redirect them he'd have to go after what they were following.

"Aurdel! Do something!" Aurdel jumped over the horde of undead following her using his jetpack, landing and rolling on the ground in front of her.

Quickly he kicked out her feet from under her and had her fall into his arms. After that he began to run again. "What's the plan big guy?!"

"We send the undead back to their boss." He ran around the area's outside Axel, making sure to lure any of the undead that had split off earlier into following them. Before they knew it the horde had turned into a practical tidal wave.

"Megumin! I want you to fire your Explosion at Beldia as soon as we reach him!"

"As soon as you reach him?! But you might get caught-!"

"Just do like I said, or it won't work!" He turned the direction he was heading in. Now, he was going straight for Beldia.

"Come at me Adventurer! You face your DOOM!" Beldia unslung his greatsword from his shoulder and swung it when he came close, Aurdel jumped up. Using the greatsword as a platform he jumped up again, this time much further into the air. Blue magic began to swirl in the air around them. He landed on the ground behind Beldia, then sprinted again. Aurdel knew exactly how long it took Megumin to fire her spell but he had no idea if that length of time had changed. Because he'd noticed that every time she fired it took a shorter and shorter amount. And if she'd been firing a whole week without him knowing there was no telling how much it might have decreased by. He sprinted with his full might, he heard the wave of undead knights crash into Beldia behind them.

"Explosion!"

"AURDEL! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Aqua shouted.

"You're not going to die you blue idiot! If you were, you would have died long ago!" He kept sprinting, feeling a tendon in his leg beginning to tear. That didn't matter though. The moment he heard the Explosion begin to go off he shrunk up and covered Aqua with his body. They'd only just made it to the edge of the blast radius when it hit so they were propelled outwards. His shields burst as it impacted him, his armor's temperature increased by a small increment too. But he managed to land on his feet and avoid crushing her to death in his arms.

"It… I-is it over?" Aqua asked, trembling. Dust had filled the air from the Explosion, a crater had been left behind. If they'd been any closer they would have been dead meat. He stepped away from the hole since it was hard to see what had survived the blast, the last thing he needed to happen was be ambushed.

When he moved away he set Aqua down, he looked around. The adventurers were cordoned off like Darkness had promised she would do and Megumin was collapsed face down in the grass from using her spell. "Hey Megumin, are you alright?" She gave a thumbs up and he started to walk over.

"The other adventurers cheered, "She did it! That girl with a screw loose did it!"

"Yeah! She and her name may be crazy but she really pulled through!"

"Great job crazy Crimson Demon kid!"

"...Aurdel, can you pick me up so I can see their faces? I want to blow them up later."

"I think blowing up a General and his army is enough for you." He was about to pick her up when he saw a blip on his motion tracker, he spun around.

"To think… All my minions defeated at once!" Beldia coughed, climbing out of the crater and pushing through the floating dirt and dust. The clouds darkened. "But if they can't do it, then that just means I'll have to do it myself!" His casual walking progressed into a stampede of metal, making a beeline for him and Megumin. A few adventurers jumped out to try and stop the Dullahan but he cut through them like chaff, no matter how heavy or powerful their armor was. "It's just like I said little mage, I'll have your head!" Aurdel quickly heft Megumin onto his back and pulled his sword from his side. Beldia swung down, he blocked the blow. Sparks flew from their clashing blades and towards their covered faces, he threw Beldia back. "I didn't expect you to be so strong adventurer, you'll make a great addition to my army of undead!" Beldia struck again and again, each time Aurdel was able to party the blow and move in on him. He could tell the General was frustrated with the fact that he was on the backfoot. "Enough!" With his hand not wielding the sword he tossed up his head far into the air, above it appeared a deadly red glow. "None of my attacks shall miss their mark!" Aurdel prepared to block the strikes that came his way when something, it rather someone, appeared in front of him.

There was a lousy screeching of metal as Darkness took the Dullahan's full barrage of strikes. He watched as the armor she was so proud of fell to bits before her very eyes from so many hits. The training with him striking her armor hadn't helped its structural integrity nor had the encounter with the alligators from the previous day.

"Darkness!" He shouted, the Dullahans head fell from the sky and he halted his attack for a moment. He checked to see if she was fine.  
"Such strength… such brutality… it really is-" Yeah, she was perfectly fine.

"Darkness, take Megumin. It'll be easier to fight without her on my back."

"But why?! I want to fight the Dulahan more."

"You're not fighting him, you're getting hit by him. There's a difference. Now take her and go," he shoved Megumin into her arms.

"How noble, you're letting your companions run away while you die fighting me."

"Nobility has nothing to do with it, I prefer not to have collateral damage when I fight." Aurdel adopted a combat stance, Beldia unslung his greatsword. They stared each other down for a matter of seconds. Then, they launched towards each other. Both swung and both ended up blocking each others blades, neither side was able to land a single strike on the other. They lunged again and again but each time only sparks flew. It was a deadlock. If he wanted to get out of this deadlock he was going to need a way to tip the scales. The easiest way he could go about doing that was by getting that weapon out of Beldia's hands or my immobilizing him.

"Create Water!" Aurdel shot a jet of water out of his hand, Beldia dodged to avoid it. As a result there simply was a puddle of water on the grass and dirt. He waited before Beldia to move forward and step in it. "Freeze!" The puddle froze near instantly and created a block of ice around the Dullahan's legs.

"Clever, but it won't hold me back!" He shattered the ice around his legs using his greatsword and strode towards him once again. Immobilizing wasn't an option, he'd just have to get the weapon out of his hands then. Aurdel put his sword back by his side. Beldia tossed his armored head into the sky once more and came straight at him weapon in hands, ready to strike.

Beldia swung, Aurdel held his hands out. "What?!" The sword fell into his grip, he refused to let go from it. Moments passed and, possibly because the Dullahan hadn't hit anything, Beldia's head began to fall back down. But before it had enough time to fall back into his hands Aurdel took one hand off the greatsword, pulled off his shield and threw it at his head. Both connected and the two things were sent flying off into the distance. He heard Beldia scream as he went further and further off, before landing with a clatter somewhere off in the distance. Much better.

With the Dullahan dazed now he yanked hard, pulling the greatsword out of its hands. He poked the handle of it hard into its chest, causing it to stumble a little. He flipped the sword. "This is over." With both hands on the weapon he struck Beldia over and over with all of his might, beginning to cut away. At first the armor didn't break, only sparks flew and scratches appeared. But as he repeatedly dealt blow after blow chunks began to slice off. Before he knew it the chestplate of the General was split open before him, various other holes around its legs and arms appeared to. From every orifice black flesh and blood seemed to ooze out, rotten. Eventually he strikes began so fast that the air cracked around him every time he swung. But with his last blow he was planning to kill the Dullahan.

He took the greatsword, took a step back, then rammed it through the exposed chest of Beldia, lifting it into the air and allowing it to slide all the way through. Eventually the motionless body slid down the blade towards the handle, Aurdel grabbed something from his belt and stuck it on the inside of the General. Then he switched positions, this time grabbed Beldia himself and began to spin him around. He picked up speed with every rotation and then let go, tossing him far into the air. He could hear Beldia's screaming from his lost head off in the distance. Then Aurdel hit the detonator, the C-12 went off in a massive explosion. With an explosive that was meant to level buildings not much was capable of standing in its way. Beldia was no different.

Bits of flesh and metal flew everywhere from where his body once was, the greatsword flying downwards and embedding itself in the ground. The battle was over. He just had to make sure this guy didn't come back though. He ran off into the distance, in the direction where Beldia's head had landed. "Get your hands off me!" The undead shouted, "Let me go!" But he held on tight, bringing the head back to the other adventurers who stared in amazement.

"How… how are you able to fight like that?" One of them asked, "You're a low level!"

"Your 'level' has nothing to do with how well you're able to fight, but that's a story for another time. Aqua! Purify this guy so we can go back and rest."

"I got it! Sacred Turn Undead!" Aurdel tossed the screaming head into the pillar of light shooting upward into the air. It was enveloped in that same light, then disappeared.

* * *

The next day came quickly, Aurdel was walking down the usual path to the guild. He was mulling over the events that had happened since his arrival to this world. At first he'd been completely reluctant to take part in any fighting. But now? Now it was almost like he went out of his way to fight. That wasn't an inherently bad thing though as it kept though anxious feelings out of his mind. That's when he decided that he changed his mind, he would perform the purpose that he was sent here to do. Because he was sent here to defeat the Demon King, an enemy of humanity. It's not like it was much different from his old service as a Spartan, after all the Covenant were the sworn enemy of humanity and fighting them wasn't much different from fighting here.

But he frowned, remembering the war. By staying here he'd left everyone behind to fend for themselves, he couldn't even protect those that he cared about. But no, there were others. Somehow he knew there were others. The war would go fine, especially if someone like John was still around. And that gave him faith. Either way he was on his way to the guild to meet up with his party and pick up their rewards. It was important that he made sure Aqua didn't spend it all and somehow end up in even more debt. He pushed open the doors. The guild was filled with an atmosphere of drinking, eating and general celebration. The mood was festive. Megumin came up to him, "Aurdel! You're finally here! Listen to this, Darkness is being a real pain and says that I'm too young to drink anything!" She probably was, even if he had no idea what the drinking laws here were.

"Now that's not it, I was just saying-" Darkness was about to defend her point of view on the matter when Aqua walked over and cut her off.

"Hey you idiot, you're late! Go collect your reward! I already collected mine," she had a tankard presumably full of some kind of alcohol in one hand, she drank from it.

"Oh good, if you got your reward does that mean you have enough to pay me back?" Aqua scurried off as quick as she could, nearly tripping over from being so drunk.

"Aurdel Ganowicz, we've been waiting for you," the lady who usually stood at the counter approached him. "Now that you're here, we can give out your reward. First is for the two ladies." Guild staff handed bags full of money both to Darkness and Megumin. "The guild is also presenting your party with a special reward. Ahem. For your party's great participation and contributions against the Demon King General Beldia… The guild has award you with three million eris!"


	8. Chapter 8

**...Winter Has Come...**

"I want money!" Aqua shouted, slamming the table.

"I should be surprised. But at this point, I"m just not. Seriously, how did you spend all of the reward money that you received YESTERDAY and manage to rack up even more debt?" The two of them were sitting opposite of each other at the guild, sat at a table the guild had reinforced for him after his personal request. And the topic they were discussing was the seemingly total lack of financial control that Aqua had.

"I've told you before that the living needs of a Goddess are expensive, you should be giving ME money for gracing your party."

"As if, I'm almost one hundred percent sure that nearly all of that reward money went to your drinking. Yeah, all the alcohol you threw up outside the guild when they forced you to leave."

"How dare you bring that up, a Goddess shouldn't be reminded of a few simple downfalls."

"Few? You've done it several times now." Unlike Aqua he was smart, so he was saving away the reward money for a rainy day. "But whatever, do you at least have a plan of how you're going to get that money?"

"We go on a quest, I don't care if it's extremely hard or not it just needs to pay well."

"That's the only thing that's always on your mind, isn't it? Money?"

"Oh shut it you shitty old man, you wouldn't understand."

"You're right, I wouldn't." Aqua got mad with his response.

"Aqua, why are you causing such a ruckus so early in the moment?" Darkness asked, she and Megumin had finally arrived at the guild.

"Yeah, and I would have preferred to sleep in a little bit longer. So do you two at least have a quest lined up for us?"

"Not yet, it's just what we were discussing when you two came in." As he turned to look at them he could tell that Aqua had made a face at him, then stuck her hands behind his head and made some sort of symbol. He didn't particularly care, mostly because of the fact that he knew that she wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed and that it was something that should be expected by now. Personally he and those other two didn't have to take quests, it was only Aqua that needed to take them.

He and the others had received enough money to theoretically retire now and give up on being adventurers, doing whatever they wanted with the rest of their lives. But none of them were about to do that, all for varying reasons. For Darkness it would probably be because she wouldn't want to give up all the pain she had inflicted on her through adventuring, so to her it would be a loss to retire. For Megumin it'd probably be because she wanted to constantly use her Explosion on targets that only she saw as valid, so to keep looking for them she'd keep adventuring and keep using her spell. For him it was because he could not physically nor mentally do that, his mind by this point had wired him a certain way and kept him on that path. None of the other adventurers in the guild seemed to have that attitude though.

When they went up to the guild's quest board is was absolutely covered with requests. That was for one simple reason, no one else was taking them. Just like the day before everyone was still out and celebrating, in fact the guild hall today even this early in the morning was full of people getting brazenly drunk out of their minds. Another reason for why no one else wanted to take them was because winter had just set in and no one wanted to go out in the cold, so they were staying inside and keeping warm. The cold was no worry for any of them though, so they'd keep pressing on. "There are a lot of quests to choose from, and most of them have decent rewards. We don't have to be too picky with what we choose." They all scanned the board individually for what they might do.

"Aurdel, what do you think about this one?" Darkness was the first one to pick a quest, thrusting the paper into view of his visor.

The quest was one to exterminate a pack of Giant White Wolves harassing a farm. The reward for completing the quest sat at one million eris. It didn't seem too hard to him. Not to mention, he could already imagine what he'd use a pile of large white wolf pelts for especially during this time of year. But then again he had to consider what his party members thought, because that's what was really driving the decisions for what quests they picked. "I can already imagine them pouncing me, those wild beasts making an absolute mess out of-"

"Clearly, you're picking this quest for the wrong reason." He put the paper back on the board, though he wasn't completely rejecting it yet.

"Aurdel, you should pick this one. It's a kill quest to take out a One Shot Bear." She posed in the middle of the guild, "Taking it would allow me to show it who really has the true one hit ability with my Explosion!"

"Find a suicide mission on your own time, it says here that they can kill almost any adventurer with one hit. I don't need you running out, blowing one of them up and leaving us to be attacked by a pack of them that was hiding somewhere causing us all to die. It's a hard no from me on this one," she deflated as he put the paper back on the board. Yeah, there was no way he was taking this one. He kept looking himself, "What's this? There's a quest to scout for something called the 'Mobile Fortress Destroyer,' what is that?"

"The Destroyer is the Destroyer," Darkness plainly said, "It's a fast and huge mobile fortress."

"It lumbers around and tramples everything in its path! It's also oddly popular with children," Megumin added on. Neither explanation helped him. The image drawn on the request at least reminded him of a Covenant Scarab, so it gave him more than enough reason not to go after that thing. He looked for something else.

"Snow Sprite hunt… judging from what this request is saying they don't sound very strong. What's with the high bounty on them? They're one hundred thousand each."

"Nobody usually wants to work during the winter, so they have to encourage adventurers to go out and kill them. But it's also because there's a rumor that for every Snow Sprite that is killed spring will come half a day sooner."

"Sounds like a rumor someone started to me."

Megumin shrugged, "It was probably started in good will."

"Good will? People are spending thousands on something that might not even work."

"Well it's like believing in a god, right?"

"Hey Megumin that's rude! Don't equate me to a scam!"

"Aqua, you shouldn't keep calling yourself a Goddess," Darkness said, "Some might get the wrong idea and think you're crazy."

"But I am a Goddess! Tell them Aurdel!"

"I think it'll be fine to go on this quest."

"Waaaaaah!"

* * *

"I thought we were going hunting for Snow Sprites?" Aqua asked. The outfit she was wearing was… ridiculous, to say the least. And in one hand she was carrying a bug net, lord knows what for.

"We are going to be hunting Snow Sprites, but we're on another quest right now. I figured that we could get two with one stone."

"Is it the One Shot Bear?!" Megumin asked, excited.

"No," again, she deflated."I decided that we would do the Giant White Wolf extermination quest," Darkness made a noise hearing that, "But it was NOT for your pleasure, there's actually a purpose to it."

"What is the point then?"

"Tell me what color my armor is."

"Green?"

"And tell what the color of snow is."  
"White."

"Now tell me if those two colors match together well-"

"Oh just spit it out already Aurdel," Aqua said with her arms crossed. He pushed her forward and into the snow, face first.

"I'm going to take the wolf pelts, then I'm going to make a cover for my armor. When I have that I'll actually be prepared for this winter when we have to do any quests out in the snow, because if I don't I'll stick out like a sore thumb and we won't be able to get anything done.

"That makes sense," Darkness said.

The snow was light, recently fallen and there were no tracks that he could see on it. He didn't exactly expect wolves to act the same way that they did, nor the same way as the wolves he'd known, he still had to remain on his toes. He actively checked his surroundings via his motion tracker and via Enemy Detection but nothing showed up. The last thing they needed to be was ambushed and slaughtered. But besides that they were dressed appropriately, for the most part. He had his temperature controlled undersuit and armor, Megumin was dressed in several layers and Aqua, at the risk of looking at like a child going out to play in the snow, did the same.

"Darkness, are you really sure that's the best thing to be wearing in this weather?"

"My armor was destroyed in the fight with Beldia, you were there when it happened. Besides, I like the cold like this. It's like an endurance test, it's nice…" She let out an excited exhale, her cheeks were pink. He couldn't tell whether it was because she was cold or whether she was aroused. What she was wearing was a black shirt and skirt that he'd seen her wearing before, and she was panting too. He supposed that steamy thoughts kept perverts warm. Off in the distance he could see the farm. From this distance away he couldn't see anything, nor could his motion tracker or Enemy Detection pick up any anything from this range. Before they got any nearer to the farm he wanted to get a better view of it from a safer position.

Luckily near the farm was a rather steep hill, one that overlooked the nearby woods. Convenient. "Alright, before we go up to the farm we're going to survey the area from there." He pointed at the hill.

"But whyyy? It's so far away!" Aqua bemoaned

"Unless you want to become a chew toy-" Darkness made a noise, "-I suggest you listen to what I have to say. I don't want to have those wolves sneak up on us and kill you."  
They hiked up the hill from the other side, and laid down. Aqua and Megumin blended in with the snow, but his green armor made him stick out like a sore thumb against the white blanket. So he covered himself with some snow in order to better hide himself. They watched the farm. Five minutes passed. "Hey Aurdel, can we get a move on? My butt is going numb," Aqua said irritably.

"No, we're not going until I say so." She dropped her face into the snow with a groan. She may not think it was important to recon the quest, but he did.

Another five minutes passed. "Aurdel, I really don't think-" He heard rustling.

"Shut it, now!" As soon as he raised his voice a little bit to get them to be quiet, they did. They sat in silence. Their waiting had paid off, the wolves were approaching the farm. Motion detection wasn't able to pick them up because of the weather, it was snowing, but Enemy Detection could. There were about nine of them in total. Megumin looked like she was beginning to chant her Explosion magic, so he shoved her face first into the snow.

"We need a way to attract their attention to one spot, then I'll come in and attack them. I'd use some of our food as bait but you three devour like it's your last meal, so if you have any ideas-" When he turned to look over he found Aqua disinterested, Megumin still face down and Darkness staring pantidly at the wolves with a pink face. Darkness… "Hmm…"

"Why are you looking at me like that…?" Acceptable loss.

"Okay Darkness, you're up." He stood up and walked over to her, then picked her up.

"H-hey! What are you d-doING?!" Her voice raised to a scream and he tossed her off the hill and in the direction of the wolves. He watched as she spiralled through the air before eventually hitting the ground, bouncing off, then landing again and tumbling into a snow drift. Aqua and Megumin both looked up with horror. But his plan did work, all of the wolves were now chasing after her and swarmed around the snow drift. It's not like she didn't mind it either, in fact she was probably getting off to the way she'd been treated and how she was about to be attacked by wolves. He had no doubts about that.

Okay, now to go to work. "Lurk!" He pulled out his sword, Gram, and vanished from the hill. He increased the shielding on his armor's boots, using them to essentially skate atop the surface of the snow to prevent making noise and footprints. Before he knew it he was near the snow drift and taking a moment to confirm that his thoughts were right, and that he was in fact hearing Darkness moaning as she was attacked by wolves. Using the opportunity he attacked the first three wolves from behind, gutting them easily

Once Lurk had disappeared and the three wolves fell dead the rest of the pack turned to face and attack him. They all stared and growled in an attempt to intimidate, they failed. He pulled out his shield. Immediately they swarmed around him. He bashed two away with his shield, then clubbed one with the wide end of Gram. The other three attacked his legs from behind. He felt their teeth break as they tried to bite through both the energy shields and Titanium-A plating of his armor. He kicked backwards, snapping the neck of one, then spun around. With a horizontal sweep he took out one and injured another. The other three wolves that he'd warded off then attacked him.

"Don't worry Aurdel! I'll defend your back!" Then he felt a sword collide against his back. How could she miss the wolves and end up hitting him?! Just how bad was she with a sword?! He ended up just whacking her away too, to prevent her from getting in the way of his fighting. He could've sworn he heard a moan come from her after she went flying from his shield bashing against her. With the pervert out of the way he focused back against the three wolves.

"Tinder!" He used his basic magic to temporarily scare them stiff, allowing him the chance to strike another blow and cut one down.

The other two snapped out of it and began to run. He threw his shield, he heard a few snaps as it caught their hind legs. They whimpered as he walked up to the pair. It wasn't fun to do, but it was his job. He killed them. He also killed the one he'd injured earlier. That was all nine dead, side quest complete. "Aqua, Darkness, Megumin! Come on, let's go to the farm now." He waved them all over. When they came over he noticed that Megumin was rubbing the back of her neck. Perhaps he'd been a bit too forceful…? Forget it.

They walked up and he knocked on the door, a farmer answered it. "Ah adventurers, you're finally here. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you coming out to-"

"The wolves are all dead."

"Huh…?" The man seemed puzzled. "But that can't be right, you just got here." He led the man out of the house, showing him the carnage he'd wrought. He was stunned by it. "W-well then, I suppose I owe you my thanks."

"By the way, do you have a cart we could take off your hands?"

**...Sprites and Shoguns...**

"I feel like even I would receive divine punishment just for being associated with this…" Aqua didn't exactly approve of his ideas to take the wolves he'd slaughtered with them in the cart, but he could really care less about what she thought of it. He had his reasons and those alone were enough for him to justify taking them with him. They were on their way to complete the second quest, the one involving them killing Snow Sprites. It took them quite a ways away from the farm and into an empty snow-covered clearing in the middle of the forest. Why this one space was clear out of all the others it could have possibly appeared in he had no idea, but it was something for him to mull over.

"Those must be snow sprites," motes of white hung in the air above the clearing as they approached. They were like snowballs with eyes, drifting about and completely harmless while making cute sounding noises. That or in an ultimate twist of fate, because nothing in this world seemed to be consistent, they could turn out to be some extremely powerful monster disguised as a Snow Sprite and kill all of them in one hit. Not a pleasant or likely thought, but it was still a possibility. "So Aqua, do you mind telling me what exactly you plan to do with that net?" He pointed to the bug net that she was carrying.

"I'm going to catch Snow Sprites and put them in these jars. Then, once spring and summer comes along, we'll always have ice cold drinks ready for us! Isn't that smart?" It… it was actually not a bad idea. Though he didn't really know if it was cost effective since these little guys were worth one hundred thousand a pop.

So he decided he'd let her be and do her own thing for now, they'd begin their hunt. He, Darkness and Megumin all charged out into the field to kill Snow Sprites. Using Gram he was easily able to cut down a dozen of them straight away, though because of his aggressiveness they ended up trying to stay away from him completely and somehow were capable of warning each other of when he came near to them. Darkness didn't have much luck killing any of them, though he doubted that it was up to sheer luck that caused her to fail in hitting any of her targets. And Megumin tried using her staff to whack them, only managing to kill one of the dozens of snow sprites in the area.

As for Aqua, she performed surprisingly competently. "Aurdel, look! I caught my fourth Snow Sprite!" Why couldn't she do this well normally? Did she need to always have some form of reward dangled in front of her to actually complete a task? No, that couldn't be it. There were plenty of times where she had to do something to get paid and failed miserably. Even if he couldn't figure it out, it was a welcome change. Hopefully it could be a permanent one, but he wasn't one to get his hopes up.

Someone tugged on his arm, "Aurdel, can I use Explosion to wipe these things out?" She stared angrily at a Snow Sprite she'd been struggling to hit. It certainly would be much easier for her to try and blow them up than try and hit them physically.

"Go ahead, but take out as many of them as possible. Don't want you firing off your spell and wasting it, hitting nothing."

"I won't waste it, just watch me!" She raised her staff towards a cloud of Snow Sprites, ""By my efflux of deep crimson, topple this white world! Explosion!" And her Explosion rang out, a wave of heat washing over the landscape. The snow that wasn't melted by it was kicked up as an outward expanding wall, blinding them before eventually clearing. When it had cleared he saw that Aqua had been blown Aqua and was face first inside of a mound of snow, bursting out for air. Darkness looked pleased, even though her performance was relatively horrible, and Megumin was face down in the snow.

"How many did you get?"

"Eight."

"Only eight? How? They were all grouped up before you fired."

"Don't blame me, they move fast. Next time I'll get them for sure."

"I suppose there could be a next time, this quest isn't that bad. Though I do wonder why it had such a high difficulty rating."

"Well that's because-"

"It's finally here!" Darkness shouted as an almost blizzard like storm blew in, the wind and snow pelting down was fierce and came down strong enough to cause his shields to treat them as projectiles. But what was it that had arrived? He hadn't picked up anything on his motion tracker or with Enemy Detection.

"Aurdel, there's a reason why no one wanted to take this quest," Aqua said ominously. Megumin, who'd just been ready to explain that same reason, was playing dead in the snow. "With the arrival of winter it means the presence of solely strong monsters, as all the weaker monsters have gone into hibernation. This one is one of the strongest there is. He is powerful enough that his bounty rivals that of a General of the Demon King. He is the master of Snow Sprites and the icon of winter. He, is the Winter Shogun." The sudden storm cleared, before them stood a large and tall blue figure. He was clad in armor of a clearly Japanese design, pure white mist came from its faceplate as it exhaled. A katana was on its side, though it was of the same blue ethereal quality as the Winter Shogun himself.

Darkness had locked eyes with the Shogun, her sword drawn and her perverted expectations clearly readable on her face. "I'm sure he plans to use his position of power as a shogun to do as he pleases to me! And I'll try to resist him, but he's sure to shame me beyond my capabilities…" She was panting, hard, and her face was a flush red. Then without warning the Winter Shogun lunged forward and attacked. With a single quick and precise strike Darkness' sword was cut in half, the blade flying off somewhere into the snow. "M-my sword!" There was a tinge of fear in her voice now. Perhaps she'd expected him to be strong, but not this strong.

"The Winter Shogun was born from the unconscious thoughts of those who wander these parts during the winter due to his existence as a spirit. Unfortunately, the only people who usually wander around these parts are cheat users."

"Why isn't it something like Santa? Or Frosty the Snowman? Who the hell thinks of winter and thinks of a samurai?"  
"Almost all of the cheat users are Japanese, you're an exception."

"I will never forgive the Japanese!" He shouted, turning back towards the Winter Shogun. Megumin was still pretending to be dead in the snow, perhaps she had the right idea.

"Aurdel! The Winter Shogun is generous, if we just politely apologize he'll overlook what you did to his Snow Sprites!"

"What I did?! You're a part of this too!" She opened the bottles she had full of Snow Sprites and prostrated herself in view of the Winter Shogun.

"Hurry up and do it too!" Aqua chastised him. Did she have no sense of pride even though she was supposed to be a Goddess? Aurdel wasn't exactly full of himself either, but there was a limit to how one could embarrass themselves in front of others. He wasn't protesting though, if they could avoid a head on fight then that's what they'd do. He laid Gram out onto the snow and prostrated himself, bowing his head down.

"Darkness, what are you doing? Throw down your weapon and prostrate yourself."

"I cannot, I have pride as a Crusader! Even if no one is watching, I can't stand down in the face of a monster." Prostrating themselves had worked, the Winter Shogun wasn't paying him nor Aqua any attention. Instead, it's attention shifted to another target. Darkness.

"Why are you picking now to have a sense of pride?! Normally you have no shame or pride at all but now, when you're faced with something that might kill you, you suddenly have it!"

"How rude! I do have pride as a Crusader normally, you just don't see it!"

Even though he couldn't see its face Aurdel knew there was killer intent from the motions it made and the placement of its hands, the Winter Shogun was ready to cut Darkness down. Damn this idiot. When the moment of it attempting its strike became obvious Aurdel grabbed Gram and charged forward, blocking the blow. Had he not moved in it would have decapitated Darkness. "What are you doing idiot?!" Aqua yelled out, "You're just going to get the Winter Shogun more angry with us!" Aurdel slapped Darkness backwards with his free hands, sending her spiraling away from where they stood. The Winter Shogun stared him down.

He adopted a two handed combat stance, "Aqua, Darkness, take Megumin and go. I"ll keep him busy while you run."

"W-we're running away?!" Darkness stuttered, "You can't be serious!" He wasn't going to answer her question, that'd be enough for her to figure out that he was serious anyways. Even if Darkness didn't run away he knew that Aqua would take Megumin and go, so that was at least two out of three. And he knew that Darkness wouldn't try attacking since her sword was broken so she wouldn't be in immediate danger. The Winter Shogun placed a hand on it's recently sheathed katana, preparing to wield it once more. Aurdel wouldn't let him strike first this time. He shot forward with a power strike, intending to damage or sever the Shogun's sword hand. But in a flash the Winter Shogun had it's sword out and blocked the blow. It was an inhuman amount of resistance.

He threw another strike, then two, then three. Each one was easily blocked by the Shogun. Now the Winter Shogun attacked him. The speed that the Winter Shogun came at him with was insane, and the amount of strikes it managed to deal was immense. Aurdel was barely quick enough to block each one of them, but also barely strong enough to make sure they didn't simply brush him aside. His bones and joints were actually stressing under the pressure of being pushed so far, nearly to the breaking point. He would have to endure it though. Another wave of horizontal and vertical slashes came his way, Gram sparked as each one struck it.

There was the sound of crunching snow behind him, his party was leaving. Aqua had Megumin on her back and Darkness was reluctantly following them, he felt like one of them was staring at him as they left. He tightened his already firm grip. Good. If they were leaving then he only needed to occupy the Winter Shogun until they were gone, then once they were he just needed to escape him somehow. Until then he'd just stand and take the beating. Aurdel pushed again towards the Winter Shogun, this time he managed to apply a little more force and managed to make him take a step back. His form didn't break though and his katana remained steady and precise.

A long series of slashes and strikes came his way, each one forced Aurdel some amount back and forced him to lower Gram. Eventually he'd lowered Gram so much that the Winter Shogun was able to actually land a few strikes on himself. He'd hoped that if it had come to him taking a few blows that his armor would stand to the challenge and allow him to completely ignore the attacks, but he was wrong. Instead, by some manner of chance, the chance completely ignored his armor and cut the flesh and bone underneath. Blood began pouring from his mouth and pooling at the bottom of his helmet, he felt pain internally from one of his lungs. Yes, he'd cut deep. But he couldn't die here.

With a sudden burst of energy he moved forward, forcing the Shogun to stop its attacks and move back onto the defensive. The adrenaline was kicking in now, the snowflakes that fell from above around them appeared slower as he charged towards the Shogun. Spartan Time was the name the others had given this effect. It was something that had come from the augmentations and was only further augmented by MJOLNIR, though he'd never really experienced it often like they had. That was because of the irreparable damage the augmentation had done to his adrenal glands, he would only get adrenaline in extremely dangerous situations. That's how he'd survived Reach, his life in danger allowing him to save two other Spartans. This was probably similar.

He attacked with Gram over and over, each time quicker and more powerful than the last. If he couldn't attack the grip that held the katana directly then he'd just have to try and force it out of the Shogun's hands. His attacks kept up, Gram sparked each time it collided with the other blade. The Winter Shogun was beginning to feel the pressure from him now, it took several steps back as it blocked the wave of attacks. Then, after attacking it enough times, he managed to land his first real blow on the Winter Shogun. It didn't feel like much and the Winter Shogun couldn't show any physical response, he knew that it was pissed off from being struck. It gave a growl before being struck by a wooden cart that came out of nowhere.

He looked to his left, where it'd come from ."Aurdel! Are you alright?!" Aqua yelled to him as she, Darkness and Megumin came down to him.

"Yeah, I'm just a little bit injured."

"Don't worry, it's nothing this Goddess cant handle! Heal!" Light burst from her hands and struck him, he felt as his wounds suddenly closed and repaired themselves. Even his lung felt much better. Hmph, she really could heal well.

"Thanks, so who's idea was it to hit the Winter Shogun with the cart?"  
"It was mine," Aqua proclaimed proudly, "You can feel free to praise me any time."

"I'm grateful for the assist, but I hope you realize how we're going to have to bring those wolf corpses back now."

Aqua's face was filled with confusion, then annoyance as she realised what he meant. "Please don't make me carry any of them!"

"Don't worry, as long as you take Megumin I can take most of them, Darkness will take anything I can't." Aqua wiped her forehead.

"It's a shame you didn't allow me to fight the Winter Shogun, I'm sure it would have been an exciting ordeal."

"Exciting it one way to put it, you almost got killed for acting like an idiot."

"I do not act like an idiot!"

"Next you're going to say, 'To call me such things, when I put my life on the line! So cruel!'" He pointed at her, waiting for her to say it.

"To call me such things, when I put my life on the line! So cruel! Huh?!" She looked at him after she said it, "How did you-?!"

"You're predictable," he started to walk off.

"I am not predictable!"


	9. Chapter 9

**...This Impoverished Undead Shopkeeper...**

"This is practical, but now I look like a Mongolian warlord," Aurdel said while looking at himself in the mirror. He'd spent the whole previous day before doing as he said he would, skinning the wolves for their pelts. After he'd sold the meat to the guild for a tidy profit he spent the rest of his time putting his tailoring skills to good use and created an overcoat for his armor. If he were to be frank he would have preferred to use paints instead but they weren't exactly available in this world, so he would have to make do with this.

"You look like a completely different man wearing that," Darkness said, "Specifically, the kind of man that would raid towns and villages, burning everything down in your path and sacking it of its goods, then taking a woman like me back to your camp to-"

"Your opinion has been thoroughly discarded."

"Well I think it looks good, it really brings out a fantasy feeling instead of a sci-fi feeling," Aqua commented.

"Fantasy feeling?"

"Aqua, you shouldn't say things like that. It's like breaking the fourth wall in a novel, you're just not supposed to do it."

"Just what are you two talking about…?" Megumin asked.

"Nothing particularly important.

"If you say so. Are we going on a quest today?"

"Possibly later, I have a stop that I want to make today before we go on one. You can hang around here at the guild until we get back." He leaned into Megumin's ear, "Just make sure Darkness doesn't do anything crazy while we're gone."

"Don't worry, you can count on me," the two of them looked at Darkness while saying that. She noticed.

"Hey, are you two talking about me?"

"No."

"Then why are you looking at me?" They didn't answer, "Can I please have a reason?" After that Aurdel left the guild, Aqua mindlessly skipping in tow behind him. He was on his way to visit Wiz, the Lich he'd met in a cemetery some time ago. There wasn't anything particularly important they had to do today so there was nothing wrong with taking the time out of their schedule to visit her.

He had to be careful though given the idiot following him around. In their last encounter she'd tried to kill WIz, he'd stopped her then probably she would probably try again just out of spite either to him or Wiz. "I just want you to know that I expect you to be on your best behavior while you're in there."

"When would I not act my best? I am a Goddess after all."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

"I really am one and you know it, so don't keep saying things like that or else people will get the wrong idea!"

"Right, you were a real Goddess but now you're a fallen Goddess."

"I am not fallen! I am a real Goddess!" Aurdel pushed the door open, "Pay attention to when a Goddess is speaking to you apostate!"

"Welcome to- Eeeep!" Wiz squeaked as soon as she saw Aqua enter through the door, Aqua's eyes met hers.

She ran away from him and up to the counter, "You damned undead! How dare you open up a shop while I had to sleep in the stables! I'll burn this shop down in the name of-!"

He whacked Aqua hard, "You're insulting both yourself and God with that sentence of yours." He looked up, "But afternoon Wiz, it's good to see you again."

"Ah, Aurdel, what are you doing here?"

"I thought I would stop by and check things out, never know what I might need in the future." Aqua stood up from the floor, pouting and nursing her bruise, and walked over to a table. Aurdel began to browse. "Hey you damned Lich, the least you go do is get me some tea."

"I'm sorry! I'll get it-"

"No, Wiz, don't get her anything. You don't have to listen to her."

"Yes she does, I am a Goddess! And a Goddess is superior to all undead there are out there, even Liches!" Aqua pointed at Wiz and she ducked down behind the counter.

"A… Goddess?" Wiz asked, slightly peeking out, "Is that why your purification is so strong

"Of course," Aqua stood up and proudly put a hand on her chest, "I am Aqua, the Goddess of Water and revered by the holy light of the Axis cult. So watch your tongue around me you damn undead, or I'll purify you and that'll be the end of that!"

Wiz further hid behind the counter, "Don't worry," he reassured, "If she tries anything I'll-"

"No, it's not that. It's just that she said she said she was the head of the Axis cult."

"What's wrong with my children?!" Aqua shouted, ready to charge straight at Wiz.

Aurdel glared at her, "If they're anything like you I can already say they're plenty wrong."

"The Axis Cult is full of crazy people, it's almost always best to stay away from them at all costs before you get tied up with them."  
"That sounds about right."

"Why do you have to insult my children?!" Aqua cried. He went back to browsing, looking at the stocked shelves Wiz had. There were all manner of items stocked on the shelves.

There were potions, rings, crystal balls, cloaks, alchemical ingredients, necklaces, chokers and all sorts of other things. But he found himself drawn to one item. "Wiz, what are these?" He picked up a small bottle from one of the shelves, it was one entirely lined with similarly shaped and sized bottles.

"Please be careful with that one, if it's subjected to too much force it will explode."

"It'll explode?" He took a closer look at it.

"Yes, that entire shelf has similar potions. One of them will explode when the cap is pulled out, another will explode when exposed to heat and another when exposed to water." The first of those didn't sound particularly useful unless it would be used for assassinations, but the other two could be of some use. He'd have to buy those from Wiz.

"I'm sure they'll be useful, but since I'm here I might as well take up your offer to learn some skills from you, Wiz."

"Oh, I would be glad to-"

"Eh?! You're learning skills from an undead?! I simply cannot allow one of my servants to be defiled by the powers of such a creature!"

"You're making it sound much worse than it is Aqua."

"I am not, I am simply stating facts! Really, you should be thankful to have me to learn skills from."

"And what would I exactly learn? Party tricks? No chance. The only useful skills you have are your healing and resurrection magic. Don't tell me you want me to kick you out, do you?"

"T-that's not what I was saying! You don't have to kick me out!" Aqua immediately backpedaled her push at him, "I'm just saying you probably don't want to learn skills from a dirty Lich!"

"That's really rude!" Wiz cried, Aurdel shook his fist at Aqua who raised her hands defensively. "But I am willing to teach you some of my skills, it's the least I could do for you. After all, you did save me the trouble of having to attend to the graveyard constantly." Aqua turned away, she was hiding something. "Oh, and I heard about how you defeated Beldia-san. That really is amazing. He was a great swordsman, even compared to the other Generals of the Demon King."

"The way you're speaking about him, it sounds like you were close."

"Of course, I'm a General for the Demon King as well," the moment Wiz finished her sentence Aurdel had been ready to slap Aqua down. The rabid blue haired Goddess went down with a solid thud. "N-now of course I'm not the same as him, I haven't hurt a single person in my life. And the Demon King doesn't request anything of me anyways, only that I maintain the barrier for him."

"Maintain the barrier?"

"Yes, there's a magic barrier around the Demon King's fortress. All of the Generals maintain it, but with someone of Aqua's power I'm sure that with only a few of the Generals deceased that you'd be able to break through it."

"You don't care that we killed Beldia? Or that we might go after the Demon King?"

"Well, Beldia and I were never on the best of terms. Occasionally he would roll his head down the hall to peek under my dress, then laughed like a child." Fair enough, he didn't feel as bad about it now. "As for the Demon King I never intended to be a part of his army, it just happened one day. I wouldn't mind if he were to be defeated." She never intended to be…? It made sense, he couldn't imagine a nice woman like her joining a threat to humanity.

"Ah, that's fine then."

"Now, I'll teach you one of my skills that you can use. I just need a target to use them on."

Aqua shot up from the floor, "Hit me with all you got you dirty undead!"

"Could it kill you to be more kind?"  
"Why should I be kind to an undead?"

"This 'undead' is almost ten times as kind as you."

"How dare you!"

"Aqua, please stand still!" Wiz put one of her hands on Aqua's, "The skill I'm going to show you is drain touch. It takes the life and energy of the target, but I'll just take a small amount." Aurdel watched closely. "Um… Nothing seems to be happening…?"

"Really? And here I thought you Liches were supposed to have some of the strongest magic out there. I guess you're really just-"

"Aqua, stop whatever it is you're doing to mess it up or else I'm throwing you to the next frog I find." After his threat, a purple glow came from Wiz's hand.

"That should be enough, you can let go of my hand now Aqua." He saw her grip on Wiz tighten, "Aqua…? My hand is starting to go numb!" Wiz struggled with Aqua as Aurdel came over, "Please! I'll be purified!"

"What are you doing you idiot?!" He slapped Aqua, she released her grip on Wiz. She was tearing up and had become transparent because of Aqua, rubbing the spot on her hand where Aqua's hand had been.

Then the door flung open, "Is Wiz here?"

**...A Haunted House...**

"Well, this is the address of the mansion." He and the others stared out at the large home in front of them. The man that had come into Wiz's shop had been looking for her due to her experience with haunting and spirits, no doubt due to her being a Lich, but also because she was a trusted member of the community due to her previous adventurer status. The man was a realtor and the one who was trying to sell this mansion, but due to a large infestation of hostile spirits he was unable to sell it. Several requests were put up to the guild to try and exorcise them but it was of no use, as even when the spirits would be exorcised more would come to take their place and haunt the home.

And so he'd originally gone to Wiz to help with clearing the home of spirits, unfortunately a certain useless Archpriest left her in no condition to do so. So instead, he offered their services in her place. "I've been waiting for a place like this, this is a home truly befitting of a Goddess!" Aqua shouted, raising her hands and praising the mansion in front of them. Another condition of the quest was that once it was cleared of spirits, they would live in it. Personally he didn't understand such a deal as it was a net loss for the realtor. But he'd explained that if they were to live in the mansion that it would repair the image of his agency. He wouldn't argue, a free place to stay was a free place to stay even if morally it didn't feel right.

"Why is it the first thing that you think about is what you're personally gaining?"

"What's wrong with focusing on that?"

"Lots of things, it's how people like you end up with massive overinflated egos."

"I do not have an overinflated ego!"

"How many times have you claimed that you need the best treatment and the most expensive things just because you're a 'Goddess?'"

"But I am a Goddess!" She cried, "Why do you keep saying that I'm not?! You know the truth!"

"Yeah, and the truth is you contribute little but trouble." She shook her fist at him, "If you want to prove your usefulness, why don't you get started on exorcising those spirits?"

"I'll show you just how useful I am!" She said with tears in her eyes. She suddenly raised her arms and closed her eyes, "I can see it now, there's a spirit with us. But she is not one of the evil spirits, rather she is a child named Anna Filane Asteroid. She was born illegitimately to a noble house from an affair with a maid, but she was stricken with the disease. Once her father died of that same disease her mother disappeared and she was left to perish in this home. But she won't antagonize us, she enjoys mature things like drinking wine so-"

"I say we leave her outside and prepare the home to actually be lived in."

"I agree… it feels like Aqua is spouting nonsense," Darkness said. The three of them were in agreement and left Aqua by herself outside. He would've considered locking the door to keep her out but the last thing he needed was her shattering a window in the middle of the night.

When they got inside it was in poor condition, there was cobwebs and dust everywhere. If they were supposed to spend the night here then they'd have to do some serious work. And they did. Until dusk they worked washing the walls and floors of dirt, removing cobwebs and spiders from corners and ceilings, setting up furniture and candles all over and preparing their rooms. It was hard work but it was definitely worth it. When they were done the inside was practically sparkling clean and the others had exhausted themselves working to make it that way. That was good though, sleep was better if you went into it tired.

He went over to one of the windows and stuck his head outside, Aqua was still blabbering about something at the front gate. Had… had she been standing there this whole time? That would have to be for hours. She hadn't moved a single muscle and had kept talking the entire time. At the very least even if what she was doing was useless she was extremely dedicated to it. He pulled his head back in and closed the window. "Alright, I'm going to go to sleep. You two should do the same. You'll want as much sleep as possible if we have to do any form of fighting in the middle of the night."  
"Do you really think we'll encounter anything?" Darkness asked, "Maybe-"

"Yes, we will. Will it be what you're thinking? Absolutely not."

"I didn't even finish what I was saying…"

"You don't need to for me know what you'd say. Anyways, if you two do hear or see spirits just shout and I'll come running over. After that he went to his room to spend the night.

* * *

Aurdel wasn't able to sleep. Actually, no, that wasn't accurate. He WAS able to sleep, but he'd woken up and wasn't able to go back to sleep. What exactly had stirred him awake wasn't clear. Due to the form fitting nature of his undersuit it wasn't like he was uncomfortable either, he even had the inside of his helmet matted to make sure it was soft to sleep in. On top of his armor was both the fur overcoat and the bedsheets as he lay in the bed, they weren't entirely necessary since he couldn't feel them but formalities were formalities. He turned in bed and looked to his right, facing the wall.

The real reason that he wasn't able to sleep was because he was thinking about the members of his party. The three other people that made up his party weren't exactly the most reliable or useful people he'd come across. Darkness couldn't hit anything, Megumin was good for one use then would be a liability in battle and Aqua was just really annoying. Maybe the next time he was in the guild he would check the board to see if there were any notices of people looking for a party, though he doubted that anyone half decent wouldn't be snatched up already. After all, the only two people that had responded to their notice on the board were Megumin and Darkness. But if he could he just needed someone that was capable and reliable, they didn't need to be extremely powerful as long as they were consistent with their abilities.

He turned back over to his left side, there was a pair of glowing red eyes coming from the dark of his room. "Megumin, what are you doing in my room?"

"Oh good, you're finally awake." He'd been awake for around an hour, just how long had she been standing there without him noticing? "I woke up and had to use the bathroom, but Aqua wasn't there to go with me so I came here. She's running around the house purifying spirits after all."

"You think you're old enough to drink and get married, but can't go to the bathroom by yourself…?"

"That's not it! There were these creepy dolls moving around in my room. Then, when I went to leave, they started chasing me around. I only barely escaped. They look… like… that…" Her voice dropped to a quiet whisper.

Megumin stared at one of the corners of his room, he looked in the same direction. With his eyes that were able to practically see in the dark he saw what she was staring at, there was a pile of dolls in the corner of the room that hadn't been there when he first went to sleep. And they were rather creepy. But the more important fact was that they'd attacked Megumin earlier and had somehow found their way into here. "Don't. Move," he told her, Megumin stood frozen. After a moment of silence the dolls sprang up from the corner and towards them. Aurdel leapt out of bed and grabbed Megumin, carrying her in his arms out the door and slamming it behind him.

The sound of the dolls pounding against the door could be heard all the way down the hallway he ran in, eventually though it stopped. When it did he carried her back and put her down at the bathroom door, since it was where she originally wanted to go. He stood guard outside to watch for any more of those dolls, none were coming down the hallway. "Aurdel? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here."

… "Are you really still there?"

"Yes, I really am still here. Is there something you need?"

"Can you sing for me? It would help calm me down and make going a lot easier." She really was like a kid.

"I can, just give me a second." He had to think, what could he sing? There was nothing in the language of this world that he knew so that was entirely off the table. The only songs he could think of were those from his own world and none of them were things that Megumin would understand. Though it probably didn't matter if she understood them or not as one could still listen to a song even if they didn't know the words to it or their meaning. He cleared his throat, "_Oh sing out ye with mighty souls, sing out ye with fighting gold. Stand fast through battle thick and thin, fighting through this war we're in. Where brothers and sisters die as one, fighting until the battle is done. They raise their MA5 up to the sky, raising it till the day they die. And so out from the foxhole we will go, whether we might live no one knows." _It was a song he'd heard from Marines and troopers when he'd fought the Covenant.

"Aurdel, that song was… weird. Where did you say you're from again?"

"You probably wouldn't believe me, but I don't come from this world. I was born on a planet called Arcadia."

"You're right I don't. But whatever, I'm- Eeep!" Megumin suddenly shrieked, he heard her jump up and run to the door. He flung it open and grabbed her again. The reason she'd gotten spooked was because the dolls were pressing against a window in the bathroom and looked to break it. He slammed the door shut once they were out, hearing the shattering of the glass as the dolls broke through.

Other dolls came flying down the hallway and chased after them, though they were nowhere near as fast as him. He was able to put this to his advantage when he turned a corner and ducked into a room, closing the door quietly and sitting against one of its walls. He could hear the sound of the dolls flying past the door in the halls. Megumin was quivering in his arms, "Darkness blacker than black, and darker than dark. I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson…"

He hushed her, covering her mouth. "Careful, you're going to blow away the whole house with us inside it." Once she'd calmed down enough he took his hand off her mouth.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" She asked.

"We'll just have to spend the night here, let Aqua deal with all of the spirits."

"We can't do that, something will-"

"Nothing is going to happen, you'll be fine. Go to sleep." He took off the wolf pelt overcoat and wrapped Megumin up in it, but he could still feel that she was uncomfortable. Maybe… He cleared his throat. "_Hush now child, don't you cry, daddy is going to sing you a lullaby. The angels above watch from the sky, watching you with their careful eye. They wait for you to rise and see the sun, ready for another day of fun. So come now to bed and rest, so that you might give the next day your best,'_ he could feel her begin to relax, her breathing was slowing. He gently stroked her air as well as he sang to comfort her more. Even if she couldn't understand the song, the meaning still got across to her.. "_Because whether you're far or if you're near, there will always be those that love you here. So sleep now without any fright, sleep now as I say good night." _And with that she'd fallen soundly asleep, her head resting against his chestplate. It reminded him of a much simpler time, one where he didn't have to worry about things like magic or the undead. It was just him, his crew, his ship and people to come back to. He laid his head back, thinking of these memories of the past, and fell asleep.

* * *

"Busy night, wasn't it?" He said aloud to himself. He was outside, cleaning off a gravestone in the front of the yard. The night had come and gone rather smoothly. Overnight the spirit infestation has gone away, as Aqua has gone into a full blown rage after something had taken all of her wine and drank it and purified all of them. The realtor was thrilled by the news of their success and as promised allowed them to stay in the mansion. But they also went to the guild as they would probably want to hear as to how they completed a quest so many other parties had failed at. They even offered a special reward simply due to the amount of spirits that were purified.

Unfortunately he had to refuse that reward as he came to find out how those spirits had occupied the house. Apparently, spirits from a local graveyard had been travelling to the mansion after some set up a magic circle as a 'joke' that pushed them towards unoccupied buildings. The mansion they'd just recieved was one of those unoccupied buildings. Needless to say Aqua got a thorough 'talking to' about responsibility. The last thing he needed was another screw up from her. "Good morning Aurdel, are you cleaning the tomb?"  
He turned, "Oh, Wiz, good morning. And yes, I am. By the way I apologize for the way Aqua was acting yesterday."

"It's nothing to worry about. Besides, I think things were best settled this way. After all, she won't be alone now." Wiz gave a sweet smile to the tombstone.


	10. Chapter 10

**...Rifling and a Realization...**

"Aurdel, what's that you're making?" Darkness asked. Everybody was looking at him and what he was working on in the living room.

He set the pieces down, "Well, you remember how I said I was going out to experiment with things the other day, right? Well, I found out that even basic spells can become more powerful with constant use so I wanted to see just how powerful they could be. I did that by having people shooting at me with bows and arrows, and I was able to stop every arrow using Wind Breath as long as I made sure it lined up with the spells point of origin on my hand."

"Okay…" Megumin said, "But what does that have to do with that pipe you're working with?"

"Simple, if it can stop things it can launch things. Watch." He picked up the pipe and slid it onto his right arm, putting his fingers into grooves on the inside so he could keep his hand open. Then using his free arm he stuck another smaller pipe into the bottom of the larger one. He pressed a switch at the top, then aimed his arm towards a target he'd set up near the wall. "Wind Breath!" A steel ball flew out of the end of the pipe and crashed through the target, completely demolishing it. Luckily the target had stopped enough of its force to not destroy the wall behind it.

"Woah…" all three of them said, "You really do know how to use basic magic better than most mages."

"We've needed more ranged options for a while now, It's just now I've actually found something that would work." It was always possible for him to use a bow, but he wanted something that would provide more power. After all, it's not like the only thing he could put in this literal hand cannon was steel balls. "But I think the best way to see how effective it'll actually be is by using it on an enemy, that means we're going on a quest."

"But why?!" Aqua pouted, "I want to stay warm by the fireplace and-!"

"You still owe me your drinking tabs."

"Okay guys, let's go on a quest!" What a quick heel turn.

* * *

In order to test just how powerful this hand cannon of his was, he was going to take some of the higher difficulty quests on the board. Normally he would avoid these quests like the plague because he didn't want the members of his party getting ambushed and slaughtered because of an extremely powerful enemy they weren't prepared to fight, but in this case he needed something strong. That's why the first quest he picked was one to kill a supposed legendary bear, one named "Black Fang."

Apparently there were many adventurers who'd fallen to it, ones that had a higher level than they do and ones that had plenty more combat experience than most of his party. That's why the quest had been sitting on the board for a while now. Personally he wondered why none of those "Japanese cheat users" had ever slain it before if it was such a big issue. Then again, if they ever did what their purpose was then he wouldn't be here.

"Careful now, we don't want it to ambush us before we ambush it." Aqua was carefully stepping, Megumin was riding on his back even though she hadn't used her spell yet and Darkness was trying but failing to hide her excitement. Enemy Detection hadn't picked anything up yet, neither had his motion tracker. He couldn't rely on those two things alone though, anything could fail at enemy time so he had to be prepared.

He held up his hand and surveyed the area. Looking around, he couldn't see nor hear it. He put his hand down, they began to walk again. "Is there anything about Black Fang that I need to know before we encounter it?"

"W-well, it's one of the strongest monsters in the area. It's c-claws allow it to s-strike with great ferocity," Darkness could barely hold herself back as she described it, "It possesses and i-immense and b-beastly strength." Her face was flushed red, she wasn't helping.

"...What about you Megumin? Is there anything you know?"

"Not really, just that the last party I tried to join before I joined you got wiped out by them. Kuku, I'm sure that if I was with them then I would have blown the beast away with Explosion and saved them all!" Jesus, a little empathy for them would have been fine. "B-but I'll just stay with you on your back since I'm safe here. Besides, you said you wanted to test out your new weapon!" That made more sense, she was just acting bold because she was actually really afraid.

….

"Aren't you going to ask me if I know anything?"

"Aqua, if you're going to say that 'It has black fur and is really dangerous,' you can just stay quiet." She stayed quiet. The only sounds they could hear as they walked were of the howling wind and the snow crunching beneath their feet. It was an uncomfortably long amount of time before anyone said anything.

"Ewww!" Aqua shouted, "I stepped in something!" She lifted her foot, bear droppings. "Get it off!" She wiped her shoe on the snow to try and get it off.

All of a sudden he saw something on his motion tracker, he used Enemy Detection to see what it was. It was something big and it was coming this way. Black Fang. "Lurk," he disappeared.

"Hey, wait! Aurdel, where are you going?! Don't just leave us here!" Aqua shouted after him as he walked away to a better position.

"It's hard to say this but she's right, we can't just abandon her and Darkness," Megumin said still on his back.

"We're not abandoning them, I'm just getting myself to a better position."

He kneeled down on the snow, getting himself into a firing position. Then he waited. "Aurdel! Where did you go?!" Aqua still shouted. The reason he left Aqua behind was because of that fact, that she was loud. He watched as the dot on his motion tracker kept getting closer, before passing by him and Megumin to go towards Aqua and Darkness. "Eep! Darkness, it's Black Fang!" She pointed at the beast.

He saw Darkness' face light up, "Stand back Aqua, I'll d-deal with him!" She dropped her sword and ran straight at it. Unsurprisingly Black Fang opened up with a strike from its claws, it left a massive gash in Darkness' chestplate. "S-so strong!"

He raised his arm and held it steady, aiming the pipe towards neck of the bear. With his shot lined up, he fired. "Wind Breath!" The steel ball came flying out of the pipe, Black Fang didn't have enough time to respond. The steel cracked against its neck at immense speeds, bending the bear's head out of place. It collapsed down onto the ground with a roar still alive. "It looks like it wasn't enough to kill it, but it didn't do a bad job." He walked over, Black Fang continued to roar and snarl as it lay on the snow.

Up close, and after picking up the ball, he could tell that the bear's spine was broken, it was paralyzed and completely unable to move. He drew Gram and slit the bears throat, killing the beast and completing the quest. Aqua ran up to him and slapped his helmet, he could tell that she'd hurt her hand doing so but tried not to show it. "How could you leave like that?! Do you want us to get killed?!"

"Aqua, have I ever not gone back to protect one of you? Have I never risked my life to save one of you? I don't leave people behind. That may be why I'm here in the first place, but it's a habit that I'm not dropping."

She looked at him wordlessly, realizing it was pointless to pout since he was right. Despite all the crap he gave them he did have their backs. Given how rough each day was, he needed to. Days… How many days had he been here? He pulled up his suits internal clock onto his visor and came to a stunning realization. Over three months had passed since he'd come here, it was December. And the day? December twenty fourth. "Megumin, you're going to have to get off of my back. I need to carry a tree back home with us."

"Hold on a minute, did you say a tree?"

**...Festive Frenzy...**

"Why are we bringing back a tree?"

"It's for reasons I'll explain to you later. Right now, we just need to get back home." Because of his reintegration back into the program in 2543 he'd missed the past nine holiday seasons, he wasn't going to let this time of year pass by him this time. Darkness dragged the dead Black Fang behind her while Aqua and Megumin walked alongside them, he himself was carrying a pine tree he'd cut down with Gram.

"...Run faster you idiots!" He heard someone shout off in the distance. Was there someone else out here? He looked out into the distance, he could see four human shaped figures being chased by what looked like a monster.

"Is there more than one Black Fang?" He asked.

"No, the thing that's chasing them is a One-Shot Bear. It's name is like it implies, it can kill anything with one strike." Charming.

"Alright. Well, I'm not going to watch them die. Aqua, make some noise."

"Why am I the one that has to be noisy?!"

"Perfect, just like that." She kept shouting as he put down the tree, sliding the pipe hand cannon back onto his right arm.

"Aurdel, I want to take it out," Megumin said, "I haven't used Explosion yet today and I think a One-Shot Bear would be the perfect target for it.

He thought for a moment, "Okay, but wait for it to turn its attention to us before firing. I don't want you wiping out that other group of people."

She raised her staff, "Darkness blacker than black, and darker than dark. I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson."

The One-Shot Bear turned towards them, hearing Aqua's yelling, and began to charge. "Strike down those who oppose me with your righteous fury, and allow my chaos to commit untold destruction. Appear and manifest as an intangible distortion!" The bear kept coming towards them, the four it'd been chasing were out of its range. He nodded, "Explosion!" The energy blasted forward from her staff and crashed against the One-Shot Bear. He held up his arm and used his wolf pelt cloak to block the shockwave from hitting Megumin and the others directly.

The blast cleared and the snow settled, there sat a crater where the bear once ran. Then, barely alive, the One-Shot Bear climbed out of the hole. Megumin collapsed to the ground and got a mouth full of snow, she still spoke, "That's impossible,,, How'd it survive my strongest attack?" It was a surprise to him too, normally anything she hit with Explosion was gone in an instant. Fortunately this gave him an opportunity.

"I'll finish him off, I have my own explosives." He picked Megumin up with his left arm, then pointed his right arm back towards the stumbling One-Shot Bear. He'd loaded the weapon with alternative ammunition this time.

"But you can't use Explosion…?" Megumin said softly, but still attentively watching.

He lined the shot up to arc this time, since the bear was some distance away. "Wind Breath!" A glass bottle shot out from the end of the pipe and flew threw the air, arcing towards the One-Shot Bear. Once it hit the ground beside it, it exploded! This time once the blast and snow had cleared from the air the One-Shot bear was dead.

"...Does this mean I'm being replaced?" Megumin asked, again softly but with a little uncertainty in her voice.

"No, you're not being replaced. I'm just saving it for bad situations." He pulled off the hand cannon and put it back onto his side.

He had to do something about Megumin, he couldn't carry her and the tree at the same time. Then he had an idea. He took off his shield that he was still carrying with him, placing it on the ground. Then, after putting a pair of two small holes in the shield, he tried some spare rope he had on him to the shield. With that, his makeshift sled was complete. He sat Megumin upright and tied the rope to him. Once he had the tree back in his arms they set off again, heading for home.

* * *

"We're still waiting for you to explain why you cut down and put a tree inside the mansion…" Even once they'd gotten home he hadn't taken the time to actually say anything about what he was doing.

"If you don't know, then I won't tell you. It'll be a surprise." He knew that saying that would get on their nerves, but if they really didn't know then he would rather make it a pleasant surprise. But now that he had the tree there were other things that needed to be done, he had to hurry. "Anyways have to go into town to run some errands, so I'll be gone for a while."

"Just what are you doing?!"

…**.Twas the Night...**

Luna sighed, she was spending another night at the guild doing paperwork. All the adventurers and all the other staff has left, but she was still here. Alone. She forgot how long ago she had to start pulling shifts like this. And because of it she was always tired but still had to put up the appearance of being the happy guild lady that everyone can run to. It was a wonder that things managed to stay afloat before she started working here.

The light near her disappeared, she'd been here so long that the candle actually managed to burn out. She pulled the spent candle out of the lantern and took another one out from under the desk. Then she heard the sound of metal footsteps clacking against the stone floor of the guild. It was probably just another drunk adventurer, coming to harass her in the middle of the night. "Dust, if that's you walking then I'm only going to give you one warning before I get the police."

"It's not Dust," a voice said. She lit the lantern and held it up to see who it was.

"Oh, it's you. What are you doing here at this hour?" It was one of the newer adventurers, a man named Aurdel. From what she'd seen and heard he didn't socialize much so nobody had really made a judge of character on him.

"I could ask the same thing, everybody else is gone."

She let out a deep breath, "I'm finishing damage paperwork from today, a drunk mage blew a hole in one of the guild's walls. They tried to avoid taking responsibility by saying that because they were drunk it wasn't their fault." He scoffed, "But again, why are you here?"  
"I thought I'd take the time to decorate the guild, though I didn't know you'd be here. I can leave if you'd like."

He was different from the other adventurers… "Actually, I wouldn't mind if you stayed. It would be nice to have someone to talk to while I work." She wanted to pick his brains for a little as she was genuinely interested in what he was like.

"Thanks, I have no problem doing that." He pulled in a cart behind him, it was full of streamers, candles, decorative glass balls, ribbons and a variety of other things. "So, do you spend a lot of nights here?"

"Most, actually. I've had to work late here so many times that I've almost forgotten what my bed looks like," she let out a despaired chuckle.

"None of the other guild staff want to help with the work?" He'd pulled a ladder seemingly out of nowhere and had begun putting up the decorations.

"No, I tell them not to stay. I'd rather they go home and enjoy their time. That's why I'm here alone."

"You can't shoulder everything by yourself, especially when it's something like what you have to deal with."

"I know… But there's also the expectation that I have to be the one that everyone can rely, and the only way that I can live up to it is by doing all this by myself."

He stepped down from the ladder, and came walking over towards the desk. "The only expectations that anyone should live up to is their own, not the expectations of others."

She was about to speak, but he held up a finger. "And I wanted to say this because I don't think many have, but thank you. For everything that you do for the guild. I may have not been here for the longest time but I can recognize that things wouldn't go as well as they do if it weren't for you. If you ever need help with anything, please ask me for it." Her face turned red and hot, she was speechless. A tear fell down her cheek. She didn't remember the last time she'd heard anything like that.

"You look like such a tough guy… but you're a softie."

"Maybe, but I know when someone's hurting." He stood her up from the desk, "Why don't I walk you home? You should get some rest." She let it happen and they walked out the door. It was quiet as they walked down the streets of Axel, the only sound being that of their footsteps. It was dark, the only light came from the stars and the moon and bounced off of his helmet. But with all of that she felt at ease. She leaned her head on him as they walked and he let it happen.

Before they knew it they were standing in front of her door. "I also wanted to give you this, I never paid that signing fee after all." He pulled out a bottle, it was a rather expensive wine. One that far exceeded how much the fee actually was. She took it from him, "Just remember that if there's anything you need, you can come to me. Anyways, goodnight. And Merry Christmas." He began to walk away.

"Wait," he stopped and turned back around. "There is one thing… Can I see your face?"

* * *

Aurdel slid his helmet back on, the door closed behind her. He didn't know if he'd made a mistake by showing her his face but either way it was too late to take it back. In any case there were still things that had to be done before morning, so there was no time to dawdle. He spent hours wandering the dark and empty streets of Axel, covering the buildings he passed by with decorations. But as time began to pass, hours in fact, he began to feel tired. Normally he was able to keep himself for long periods of time but the blitz he'd gone through to get all of these things had done a number on him.

He stopped for a moment, leaning on the cart. Then he smiled and gave a little chuckle. He'd just lectured Luna on being able to rely on others and here he was, alone. It was almost for sure that he wouldn't be able to get all of this done by himself with the time he had. "Um… E-excuse me? Are you okay?"The voice was nervous and unsure, he turned around.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit tired." The voice came from a woman, who looked rather young, dressed in a black outfit with a pink skirt and a tie over her chest.

"Do you mind if I ask what you're doing? You don't have to answer, but…"

"No, it's fine. I was just putting up some decorations around town. I don't know if I'll be able to get all of them up before I have to go back, though."

"U-um..." She turned her head, avoiding looking him in the fa- ...in the visor. "If I help you, d-do you think you could be my friend?"

Be her friend…? Judging by how she spoke, along with what she wanted from him, she must be socially awkward. And because of that fact, she didn't have any friends. That wasn't good, it was the kind of person that could easily be taken advantage of. "Sure, I don't have any issue with that."

Her eyes lit up with excitement, glowing red. Was she another 'Crimson Demon' like Megumin was? "Really?! You'd do that?!"

"Of course I would." He really did need the help, but he also felt that there was something else. Just the way she acted made him feel like he needed to protect her. "Well there's no time to waste, we need to get to work right away if we want to get this done."

Then with confidence she hadn't displayed before, "Right, let's do it!"

* * *

"What's all this stuff everywhere?" Darkness asked. The night before the halls were essentially bare, but now they were all decorated.

Megumin messed with some streamers on the wall, "Could this be the surprise he was talking about? And where is Aurdel anyways?" That was a good question. The three of them hadn't seen him go to sleep, nor had he come out of his room. That latter fact was especially interesting because he was usually the first one to wake up, then proceeded to wake the rest of them.

"Maybe he went to the guild really early to line a job up for us," Aqua said. That made sense, he usually got there before them.

"Then we shouldn't waste any time," Darkness said, "Especially if it's a quest with really strong monsters, m-maybe even ones with lots of slime… Ugu~" Her thoughts were already elsewhere, but the first part of what she'd said was right. The three of them walked down the hall and emerged into the main area.

"Is that… him?" When they entered the room they found it decorated just like the rest of the house, the tree covered with ornamentation and lights. But there was also Aurdel fast asleep on the couch with his head towards the fireplace.

"Hey, what's all this stuff under the tree?" Megumin came back over holding a box, "There's these wrapped boxes under it, all of them are addressed to one of us. Well, except for two of them."

"Bring them over here, I want to see what's in them!" Aqua shouted. Darkness brought the rest of them over.

Megumin opened hers first, "This is… Manatite!" She hefted a decent sized pile of rocks out of the box. With a wide grin and staff clenched in her free hand, "I already know what I'm going to do with these. But what about you Aqua, what did you get?"

Aqua tore at the paper, absolutely demolishing the box it was in. "Yes! It's my favorite bubbly and enough money to pay off my tab!"

Darkness was last, "Well, I certainly don't have to worry about getting my sword fixed."

"But wait, what about those last two gifts? Are those also ours?" Aqua asked, intent on getting more. Megumin went over to check it out.

"No, they're not. They're addressed to an 'Aric' and a 'Clementine,' I've never heard of either of them."

"Maybe Aurdel knows, " Darkness said. They looked to him, "Oh right, he's still asleep."

"I suppose we could ask him later. Besides, I want to see how big of an Explosion I can make with this manatite!"

* * *

**AN: Merry ****Christmas**


	11. Chapter 11

**...An Offer You Can't Deny...**

Aurdel walked down the streets of Axel, all the evidence of his overnight work was still evident all over the town. Nobody had bothered to take it down since most people enjoyed it but eventually he'd have to take it down. Either way he was still exhausted from all that work even if he had help from that woman. That's why he was taking a week for relaxation, something most of his party agreed to. Only Darkness protested but that was because she was on a constant quest for pleasure by pain.

He sighed, maybe he'd find a bakery or something and get whatever this world had that passed for pastries. If not he'd just go home and find something to work on. He kept walking, "Hey, big guy!" A voice said from somewhere. He turned, it was a blonde man in a red outfit. "Yeah, over here! We want to talk with you." Was this man drunk? It could be, but at the moment he didn't have anything better to do so he might as well humor him. He walked over towards him and the black haired man with him.

"What do you want from me?" He asked straight away.

The black haired main spoke up instead, "We wanted to thank you for the other day, saving our hides and all from that one-shot bear. If it wasn't for you and party we would've been toast. The name is Keith, and he's Dust." He jerked his thumb over towards the blonde man when saying the second name. Now that he thought about it… the man looked familiar. The name was also familiar to him, but he didn't know how to place it.

"Yeah, we wanted to let you in on a little secret about this town. It's something any male adventurer should know…" he stopped, "You are a guy, right?"  
"Yes, I am in fact a man." He felt like it should've been obvious, but then again these sets of armor weren't made to be gender specific. "But then what is it?"

"Not here," he whispered back, "In a more secure place, this is a matter of life and death for us male adventurers." Life and death…? The two men lead him away from where they were standing, ultimately taking him to a bar. The door they had to pass through was rather short and he almost destroyed the frame with his helmet, but they went in and sat down. Well, Dust and Keith sat down. He couldn't.

"Are you able to tell me now? Or do I have to order you both half a dozen drinks first?"  
"A dozen would be better but hey, you're speaking our language now." Really he shouldn't be humoring these kinds of people, but he had nothing better to do. He ordered them their drinks.

"Now are you able to tell me?"  
Dust slammed down one of the tankards after chugging the whole thing, "Yep, now we can tell you." He cleared his throat, "Alright. Since you're a guy you have urges, am I right? It's a problem especially for us adventurers. But it's an even bigger problem for those who have to stay in the stables, there's no privacy for us to _vent_."

He couldn't be serious, were they about to offer to take him to a brothel? Not only could he not get out of this suit of armor, but his libido was practically non-existent. The first attempt at augmentations had done a number on it and the second had almost wiped it out completely. Keith was next to speak, "And you can't lay hands on a female adventurer either. If you did other female adventurers might gang up and beat you, or they might have a dagger in their sleep and try to castrate you." Really he felt like those were two justified responses given what they were implying. He looked at Dust, his face was a pale white. "Have you really not recovered after Lynn?"

"Shut up! Anyways, there's a shop full of Succubi in this town. They have a mutually beneficial relationship with us male adventurers. We let them take some of our energy, they provide us with exciting dreams."

What a bunch of bull, he should just… Wait, dreams? "They provide dreams?"  
"Yeah, they go into our minds while we're sleeping and give us dreams of whatever we want."

"These dreams… are they really of anything? Do they have to be inherently sexual?"

"Inherently? Uh I don't think so. It's just whatever you tell them to do, I don't know why you'd-"

He cut Dust off mid-sentence and lifted him up by his collar, "Take me there."

"Alright alright! I figured you'd be interested, but I had no idea it was that interested." He put him down, "We just want to finish our drinks first, then we can head over." He wanted them to hurry, because now they fully had his attention.

* * *

"This is the place?"

"Yup, this is it." The three of them had walked down a series of alleyways between buildings and arrived at the front of what looked like a typical restaurant. Or well, typical for this world. They passed through the door and into the shop.

"Welcome!" They were greeted by a busty woman, one with light if not pink skin in an extremely risque outfit. But she wasn't the only one, there were in fact several of them all scattered throughout the shop. But in terms of women those were the only ones there. All the rest of the people in the shop were men, sitting down and tables and filling out what looked like a survey. He wondered, if there was such a shop only for men was there one for women too? He'd have to look into that, just from personal curiosity.

"Is this the first time you three customers have been with us?" The other two nodded. So they didn't even have any idea if what they'd told him was true? What a bunch of cons. He just nodded along, he was this far in so he'd just go with it. "But you are aware of what services we provide, yes?" They nodded again. "Very good, this way please." She lead them down to some empty seats around a table, who sat down should be known without saying by this point. She set down a series of papers on the table, "Please fill out all the necessary information on the surveys, then once you're done please take it up to the counter and pay the bill with the cashier."

The other two began to fill it out right away, covering their papers with their hands so no one else could see. They even glanced up occasionally, paranoid. He probably shouldn't hang around these people, especially if they themselves considered their own desires something to be worried about. He wanted confirmation first though about what he wanted. "Excuse me, do the dreams we request have to be inherently sexual encounters?"

"No, they can be whatever you want and can be as detailed as you want. It's all just a matter of what you put down on that survey."

Good, now that he knew that he could commit himself to this. He wanted to relive that night after all. So right away he went to filling out that form, writing down every detail of that night. The amount that he gave could be considered absurd to some but he wanted this to be perfect. By the time he was finished he'd gone onto several pages, with Dust and Keith having already finished and waiting for him to go up and pay. The three of them went up to the cashier and handed in the surveys, "Very good honored customers. The two who chose the three hour session have to pay five thousand eris each, the one with the six hour session is ten thousand eris." From what he'd seen regarding prices in this world, that was dirt cheap. But since he was in a good mood from finally having this opportunity he'd pay for all three of them, so he dug out the money and paid the twenty thousand eris.

"Very good, that's almost all of the work that needs to be done. All that's left for you to do is to leave the address of where you're staying and when you plan to sleep. Once that time arrives one of our Succubi will come to provide you with your desired dream. But please remember to not drink alcohol, getting dead drunk or falling into too deep of a sleep means we won't be able to delve into your mind." And with that warning the three of them left the shop, the other two eager to return to wherever they were staying.

He on the other hand still had some time to burn before night arrived, even if it was winter and the days were shorter. But that only made the fact that the other things had to be done more important. After all, the new year was only around the corner as well and he wanted to be prepared beforehand this time. And so he set off again, this time to get the supplies he needed.

* * *

"Aurdel, where have you been? Darkness' family sent us a gift, Snow Crimson Crabs and wine! They wanted to thank us for taking care of their daughter!" Aqua was waiting for him the moment he got back, leaving the cart in a shed outside the mansion. The sun had already begun to set so it meant that he had to get ready to sleep if he wanted to have that dream.

"Someone else can have my serving, I'm not hungry. I'm planning to go to bed early anyways."

"Really? Well I guess I'll-"

"Someone that isn't you," he walked past her and pushed open the door.

"Hey now just wait a minute, why can't I have it?! I'm a Goddess, you should be treating me to meals like this all the time!" Aqua pouted and chased after him as went inside. Darkness and Megumin were already sitting at the table ready to eat when he came in.

Before they could say a word he already gave his input, "You can split my serving, I'm not hungry." Megumin looked fine with that, but Darkness seemed hurt.

"Are you sure? These crabs are of really good quality…"

"I'm sure, I'm going to bed early." He wasn't going to let anyone guilt him into anything, not this time. This time was too important.

He walked past them, feeling a pair of eyes watching him as he walked. But he wouldn't have any regrets, not if this worked. The door to his room opened and he stepped in before closing it behind him. All the equipment he had on him he put aside before lifting up the bed covers and climbing in. He was about to take off his helmet and shut his eyes when someone knocked on his door, "Come in." The door opened, it was Darkness. "Is there something wrong?"

She stepped in and turned her head, "No, it's just… I wanted to know why you didn't want to sit down and eat with us, it means a lot for my family to have sent us those crabs. Did I do something to offend you? If I did I'm-"

"No, there's nothing you have to apologize for. My mind is just elsewhere and I wanted to sleep the feeling off." She lightened up with a little smile after hearing that, but he could tell it was still pained.

"I see… Well, I hope you rest well." She left the room and closed the door behind her, he heard footsteps as she walked away. Maybe it was a little selfish of him to do this, but he needed this. He looked around, was there something else he had to do to make sure it could actually happen? His eyes were drawn to the window. Right, it needed a way of getting into his room without alerting the others. He leaned over and unlocked it, sliding it open just enough so it could be fully opened from the outside. With that he laid back down, put out the candle, took off his helmet and closed his eyes.

**...Dreaming of the Past...**

For the first moments that he was asleep he wasn't faced with the dream he wanted, but rather the recurring dream he had. He was back on Reach. "Gamma-One Actual, my team is in position. Get your people ready to move as soon as I give the signal, over," the Spartan next to him said. It was him and five other Spartans and they were nearing the end of the battle.

"With respect, Red - we might not be Spartans, but this is our home. My men will die here if I ask them to," a Marine responded over the comm channel.

"I don't doubt that, Gamma-One Actual. Let's hope we won't need them to."

The Spartan tapped on her wrist tac-pad, hitting a series of keys before pushing the activation function. After that she pulled the MA5B off of her back, "Defensive perimeter online."

"This is nuts. What in the hell are those autoturrets supposed to do against what they're bringin', over?!" The Marine shouted back over the comm.

Dust kicked up off in the distance, the Covies were on the move. "Divide their attention." Hours before this they'd dug a field full of charges, all of them capable of blowing a hole through any Covenant armor or infantry that passed through."Visual! Thirty-two Wraiths moving with two-hundred sixty infantry at two hundred meters, closing on our lines due west at six kilometers per hour. Beta-Red, hold position until I trigger primaries, then close on their front line as fast as you can."

"Understood Beta-Red Actual," he replied. Even if he knew how this was going to end he was going to go through all the motions, maybe this time it would be different.

"Dammit, Red, I heard you Spartans were crazy." The Marine signed off the comm to talk to their own unit. He had no idea if those men had survived this battle but he sure as well was going to fight it no matter what.

"Hey," the Spartan next to him patted him on the back. The man was Declan-022, one of the two Spartans he'd saved in this battle. "Any words before we charge in?"

He reached down to the ground and picked up a clump of dirt, letting it sift through his hand. "The Covenant decided to paint the soil red, but personally I think a coat of blue and purple would be much better." An empty casing sat in his hand once all the dirt had fallen away, he let it drop and then took the assault rifle off his back.

"Agreed," Declan pulled the DMR off his back and held it in his hands. All the rest of the Spartans around then took out their own weapons and prepared to face the odds.

A minute passed, the sound of whirring Covenant anti-grav units was drowned out by the sound of automatic gunfire from the autoturrets they'd set up. Another Spartan, Joseph-133, looked out over the cover they stood behind with his sniper rifle. "They're regrouping, estimated time before detonation should be t-minus twenty seconds." Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen. He loaded in a magazine and slid a grenade into the underslung forty millimeter launcher. Sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen. The other Spartans all readied their own gear. Twelve, eleven, ten, nine. Five green lights flashed on his HUD, he flashed his own to the others. Eight, seven, six, five. He and four other Spartans got into position and were ready to leap up and out of cover.

Four, three, two… "Now!" Kaboom! The field full of C-12 and rigged Lotus mines exploded in a blaze of glory, shredding the unfortunate Covenant forces that stood right above it. The five of them lept out of cover.

"Red-Fifteen and Red-Six form up on me, Red-Seven and Red-Twelve form up with what's left of the Third Mechanized Brigade and make sure there's nothing left of that armor. Once the Covenant armor is cleared you're free to pick your targets as you please."

"Acknowledged Beta-Red Actual," they all said back. He and Declan formed up on her, the other two Spartans split off.

The three of them charged forward into the remnants of the column, dust still in the air, and opened fire. The Unggoy and Sangheili that had survived the blasts were all disoriented and most wounded, meaning that when they were shot they went down fast. It was for the better anyways. Each of them picked a different Wraith and ran up its sloped armor, then pulled open the hatch to shoot the driver inside and dropped in a pair of frag grenades. After slamming the hatch back shut they leapt off and got to a remotely safe distance, three wraiths exploding behind them.

"This is Colonel Edward Hsu of the Third Mechanized Brigade, we have your backs Spartans," a voice said over the comm channel. The sound of Scorpion shells and Warthog LAAVs suddenly rang out and explosions rained down onto the column. The initial charges had knocked out around twenty three of the Wraiths and their charge took out three, but the barrage of shells had taken out another five. Only one left in the column.

"Last wraith is mine!" Beta-Red Actual shouted, charging up to the tank.

He covered her as she ran up and pulled the hatch off, throwing two frags in and then leaping off. The wraith exploded as she came running back over.

"Move!" He shouted and ran over, giving her a hard shove to the side.

He kept reliving this moment and he found that it was probably the reason why he'd died, but there was nothing he could do. He hadn't seen the Brute Chieftain run up to them with its gravity hammer until it was too late, so to save his fellow Spartan he pushed her out of the way and took the blow for her. He was slammed hard into the ground as it happened and he still felt all of the pain of that moment. But then suddenly, unlike the previous times, he was taken out of it.

At that moment the word around him suddenly shifted violently and the setting changed. When he blinked he found that he wasn't on Reach anymore, nor was he wearing his armor. It was really happening. The year was 2539 and he was standing in front of a bar on Castellaneta. The taxi that dropped him off sped away, on its way to pick up someone else. At the time he was still working with the Navy and had the rank of Captain, this was before he was re-integrated into the Spartan program. He was here because he'd received leave for R&R following success in a Naval engagement. Or at least that's why he was here originally, but he had another reason for coming back to this memory.

* * *

He ruffled his suit and walked inside, then sat down at the corner of the bar and ordered something to drink. How many had he had before he'd seen her..? Oh right, four glasses. The four drinks went down quick, he turned his head to his left. That was when he saw her, with her red hair and bright blue eyes. As soon as she noticed he'd seen her staring she quickly turned head back towards the bar and away from him. He stood up from where he was sitting and walked down the bar, running his hand against the mahogany as he did.

When he reached her he sat down on the bar stool to her right, ordering two drinks. He could tell she was anxious given how she was trying to avoid eye contact with him. He spoke first, "So, I couldn't help noticing you staring at me. Is something wrong?"

"No, you just stick out like a sore thumb in that suit of yours. Most people come in here in casuals, not formal." She took one of the two drinks he'd ordered.

"I'm sure that's all," he knew the real reason why. "But anyways, are you on leave here too?"

"I am, I took out a Covenant Destroyer that managed to slip through a HORNET net." She stopped, "But I'm afraid I didn't catch your name…?"

"It's Aurdel Parck." At the time he had to live under a partially assumed name, ONI didn't want to risk having someone recognize his full name and start asking questions about how he was alive.

"Really? No wonder you look so familiar." There was a reason for why she'd recognized him at the time. After all, it was hard to not be recognized after having your face plastered all over the net for contributing the amount he and his crew had.

"Is that all?" He tilted his head

Her face was pink, she giggled. Obviously she'd been drinking for some time before he'd gotten here. "No, it's not."

He leaned over, she finally turned her head to look at him. "So then, what's your name?"

He had a good look at her face. Her hair was a deep red and her eyes twinkling light blue, matching together with a fair skin tone. "It's-" She was cut off as everything suddenly turned to black, then he shot up and awake.

"Aurdel, you're finally awake! We found this Succubus messing with you in your sleep," It was Aqua and everybody else in his room. At the moment they were restraining a person with a rather small figure, but one with the same complexion as those that were in the shop. His right eye twitched, "Don't worry, I'll purify this devil and then-"

"You bitches!" He picked up his helmet from the side table and chucked it as hard as possible, hitting Aqua dead in the head.

She toppled over unconscious, the other two watched as she fell down. "You've gone too far this time!"

"Megumin, get behind me! I think he's under the control of that Succubus!" Darkness shifted Megumin behind her as he approached, clenching his fists. "Don't you dare come any closer, or I'll-!" He threw a punch, she was a much softer target to hit without her armor. The two of them went spiralling out the door and into the hallway. She raised her arms to defend herself from him, but it was too little too late for that. He through another hard punch for her stomach, this time aiming for the Solar Plexus. She toppled over unconscious once it connected as even if she could handle an immense amount of pain hitting a large amount of nerves was one way of taking a person down.

Megumin fell back against the wall and raised her hands to shield herself, an expression of pure fear on her face. Then suddenly she tipped over to the side as she fainted. With the situation under control now he checked on all of them, making sure they weren't dead, then took them all back to their rooms and put them in bed. Once they were all out of the way he returned back to his own room where the Succubus was still sitting on the floor. "U-um… c-customer? What now?"

"I go back to sleep and you give me the rest of my dream like nothing happened."

"R-right…"

* * *

"So you really don't remember anything from last night…?"

"No, the last thing I remember is going to bed and having a nice dream."

"I see…" The others were still nursing themselves after the blows he'd dealt them last night. Aqua had a big bruise on her head and Darkness one on her stomach. "But who put us into bed last night after what happened?"

"Like I said, I don't remember. But there's one important question I want to ask, why were any of you in my room in the first place? It's not like any of you actually knew about it before coming in, so why did you?"

Their were blank stares all around. "Well I… We… Uh…" They weren't able to finish their excuse though, as they were interrupted by a broadcast.

"Destroyer Alert! Destroyer Alert! The Mobile Fortress Destroyer is approaching Axel! All adventurers please prepare for combat and report to the Adventurer's Guild! All citizens should evacuate immediately!"

This couldn't be good.


	12. Chapter 12

**...The Bigger They Are...**

The four of them ran back inside the house, but when they came back out only he and Darkness had their gear. "What are you two doing? We need to get over to the guild to defend the city."

"What are you talking about?! We need to get as far away as possible from here!"

"Yes, since we're going to lose everything here we should just go after the Demon King straight away." Aqua and Megumin had no intention of fighting this thing.

"I'm not prepared to sacrifice this town just because you're a pair of cowards. Whether you follow me or not, I"m going to the guild and we're going to fight that thing."

He began to walk away, "Hey wait Aurdel, you can't be serious!" Megumin chased after him, "You have to seriously consider what you're going into! The Mobile Fortress Destroyer destroys everything in its path! The only people that manage to survive it are devotees of the Axis Cult."

"Why are you singling out my worshippers like that?!" Aqua pouted but still ran after them, he was still walking ahead with Darkness.

"You don't know how many battles I've fought, you don't know how many times I've been told they can't be won and that I'd die trying. And all the people that have died makes stopping this thing all important for us to do. So grow a backbone, or stay out of my sight."

They were speechless as they approached the gate, still taking in what he'd said. Outside the gate there were a number of guards, many of whom were looking off into the distance. "Hurry adventurers!" One of them said, "There's no time to waste, head over to the guild right away." He gave them a nod and they ran into town, now sprinting towards the guild. As they came close the doors were held open by guild staff with panicked expressions on their faces. But once they were in the doors were closed.

The guild was filled to the brim with adventurers and tables were pushed together, there was a hanging feeling of unease in the air. Everyone was decked out in the heaviest and most expensive looking gear that they could muster. "We thank all of you who showed up! The emergency quest to repel the Destroyer begins now, there are no level or job requirements so all should participate. The emergency war council begins now, everyone please take a seat!" Luna was leading the effort at the moment. "First, is there anyone who needs me to explain what the Mobile Fortress Destroyer is?"

Several adventurers raised their hands, she nodded and began. "The Mobile Fortress Destroyer is a giant magic golem that was built by the extremely magically advanced nation of Norse to use in the fight against the Demon King. They depleted their national budget and vault to create a gigantic spider shaped golem the size of a small castle, and due to various magic metals implemented into its creation it can easily run faster than a horse." Aurdel was already having a bad feeling about this even if he didn't want to admit it. "On top of it with its massive body and quick attack speed is a magic barrier projected at all times by Norse technology. All magic attacks are ineffective.

"Only physical attacks are possible but getting close is a death wish, that also means the only possible way of attacking is via range. With its speed siege catapults are useless and with its armor arrows are useless. To round it off small ballistae are stationed on it along with smaller golems to shoot down any possible aerial attacks. It doesn't discriminate between man or monster, so whenever it draws near we are forced to evacuate until it passes so we may rebuild." She took a deep breath, "Does anyone have any suggestions?" There was a long silence in the guild, no one said a word. "Then I'm afraid-"

"Show me what it looks like," he said.

Everyone stared at him like he was crazy, but now they had hope in their eyes. Luna especially seemed to be happy that it was him who might have an idea of what to do. Another staff member came running up towards where he was standing, "H-here!" A device lit up and showed what appeared like a birds eye view of passing terrain, before eventually the image focused on the actual Destroyer. It was massive with eight legs and bulbous eyes on its front. Then a missile from one of the ballistae aboard it shot up and the image was cut, the others around him were shocked at that.

"W-well? Any ideas?"

He thought for a moment, "I do, but all of you are going to have to do exactly as I say."

* * *

"...Spartan. I don't mean to second guess your judgement, but are you absolutely sure this is going to work?"

"It will Colonel Menteith, I've looked at everything. The place I've marked for the troops to wrangle the Scarab into is weak structurally, so with the amount of charges I'd suggested it'll collapse easily. If it doesn't get destroyed in the fall or blast then it'll at least be delayed for long enough to take out the AA guns and get those bombers with SHIVAs in."

"You're right, I'm just worked up over nothing." The Colonel lit a cigar and took a long drag, then let it out. "So Spartan, are you staying for this one?"

"I'm afraid not sir, ONI is pulling me away for another operation. If I could I'd stay and personally lead the charge myself but I can't."

"I know you would son, but I think it's for the best. We're all dead men walking here anyways."

"Dead men don't smoke, sir." The Colonel let out a chuckle. "It's been an honor sir."

"As it has been to serve with you Spartan. It's up to you to take the fight up elsewhere, don't let the Covenant take a single inch of our ground without spilling their blood."

"Until my last dying breath."

* * *

Everyone was listening. "Archers, step forward!" All the Archers present stepped forward, the adventurers around them cleared space. "How far can all of you shoot?"

"We can shoot quite a far distance," Keith said, "But it might be possible for us to hit something further away if we had something to increase our luck."

Aqua shot up, "That's no problem, Blessing!" She cast her magic and light surrounded them, "It'll do a lot more than just increase your luck, but it should still be good."

"Good, I want all of you Archers outside the gate and on horseback on the double. Be ready to move out and fire when I give the order. And have arrows with rope ready too, we'll need them."

Guild staff lead all of the Archers out, beginning the preparations for them all to go on horseback. "I need everyone that can make Golems!" A group of mages stepped forward, "Good, I also need anyone with smithing skills and anyone used to working with lightweight materials." Fewer people stepped forward this time but it was enough. "You will working together. Smiths, you'll be creating gliders capable of travelling long distances. Creators, you'll be making golems lightweight enough to not make the gliders fall but strong enough to be noticed by the Mobile Fortress Destroyer. Now, I need mages capable of using basic magic."

More staff herded the Creators and Smiths away to get the materials they needed, mages stepped forward. "All of you will be on the wall once the gliders are ready. When I give the order you ALL have to use Wind Breath on the gliders to try and get them to go as far as possible and above the Mobile Fortress Destroyer. Drink potions or whatever if you have to to make your spells more powerful, just make sure you're prepared." They scrambled out, presumably to do as he'd said and make sure their magic was as powerful as possible.

"I want the rest of you to fan out across the city and look for as many four wheeled carts as possible and bring them to the front gate. If you can only find ones with two wheels, put them together. They're a crucial part of this plan and we can't do it without them. But those with armor light enough to be able to climb should save their strength as you'll be boarding Mobile Fortress Destroyer. You all know your jobs, go!" The rest of the adventurers began to run out of the guild, "And someone bring Wiz here! She's an important part of this plan too!"

Soon enough almost everyone had left, it was just him, Megumin, Darkness, Aqua, Luna and a few other adventurers who'd decided to stay in the guild. Megumin tugged on his arm, "Are you sure all of this is going to work?"

"Am I sure? No, never. But I'll be damned if I do nothing and let people be trampled upon."

"T-then can you at least reassure us that we won't d-die?" She was a little shaken by what he'd said. He squatted down and looked her dead in the face.

"I won't let anyone die, God help me if I do." Then he stood straight back up.

"Aqua, you can break magic barriers right?"

"Of course I can, why?" Aqua was messing around with water and paint at one of the tables idly.

"You're going to break the barrier projected by the Destroyer, so that once it is down Megumin can use her Explosion to make sure it stays down."

"What about me Aurdel? What do I do?" Darkness asked expectantly.

Eh…. "I don't actually have anything for you. You can't hit anything so having you board the Mobile Fortress Destroyer is pointless, that's even if you weren't too heavy to board it once it's down. The most you could do right now is to go and get those carts."

"T-too heavy?! Ugu…." She slumped away dejectedly.

"I-I'm here!" A woman's voice burst into the guild, Wiz.

"Good. Wiz, we need your help."

"I'm happy to help in any way I can, I used to be an adventurer after all."

"The explosives you have in your shop, do you have any more?"  
"I do… I have a large shelf full of them in the back because they never sold, no one but you bought them."

"Perfect, I need you to get all of them out to the front gate. There will be a bunch of carts there and I need you to fill them with the explosives."

"All of them?! Aurdel, it cost a lot of-"

"I'll make sure that you get more than enough money back for all of them. But please, do this for me."

"O-okay, I'll do it," She left the guild quickly to do as he said. The others adventurers that'd stayed eventually left, it was only them alone now. He walked over to the bar and pulled off his helmet and took a bottle off of the shelf. He popped the top off.

"A-Aurdel, you…" It was a bad habit really, one that he shouldn't feed.

"Does it really matter if I've taken off my helmet by this point? I didn't want anyone to see my face before but everyone in this room right now has seen it, so it doesn't matter very much." He finished the bottle quickly, then tossed it aside. "Alright, let's do this."

**...The Harder They Fall...**

"Is there any sign of it yet?" An adventurer asked. Aurdel looked out into the distance, zooming in using his helmet. No sign of it. But he could feel the tremors, feel them coming closer. The air around them was tense and while most of the people around him held a calm demeanor he could tell they were hiding their anxiety. Their anxiety was justified though so he couldn't blame them. Typically when he faced something like a Scarab he had a great amount of support with him. Scorpions, Warthogs, Hornets. The whole works. But here they were working with quite literal sticks and stones to fight something that used magic and was much larger than a Scarab.

"There." He pointed out into the distance, it'd finally come into view of him and the other adventurers. There was a collective clenching of fists around him as everyone braced themselves. A few moments passed and it was coming closer. He turned towards the wall, "Launch the gliders!" A moment later the gliders came soaring off of the wall, bottles dangling from ropes beneath them and small golems atop them. Off into the distance they went.

He watched as they went off into the distance, coming ever closer to the Mobile Fortress Destroyer. He paid close attention. As expected the Ballistae on the top of the Destroyer fired, aiming for the Golems on the tops of the Gliders. But in aiming for the Golems the ropes were cut and the bottles dropped. Being so far away and so small it would have made sense for most people to be unable to see them. But once they hit the surface they made their presence known. Explosions dotted the top of the Destroyer. While he knew they wouldn't be effective in bringing it down from there, that wasn't their purpose. If they were going to be boarding and if there were Golems stationed atop it that stood in there way it was best to try and take some of them out beforehand.

"Push the carts! Archers, you will ride when I start running!" Adventurers pushed the carts loaded with explosives, set up in a certain direction and order, down from the gate and in the direction of the Mobile Fortress Destroyer. The motion from travelling down the slopes outside the Town would be enough to keep them going, at least long enough for them to reach the mechanical monster. He waited for a matter of moments, then had Megumin climb onto his back. "Hold onto your hat."

He sprinted off straight away and kicked up dust behind him as he ran, the Archers on horses charged forward after him. It wasn't hard for him to keep running, in fact he had to slow down a little for the horses to catch up with him. The carts kept rolling on their way. "Aurdel! Do I do it now?!" Aqua shouted, riding with one of the Archers.

"No! Not yet!" They needed to do this correctly or else they would be out of options to stop it. More time passed and they came closer, so did the carts. But eventually…

"Now! Archers, fire!" They needed at least one arrow to hit the bottles in each of the carts, which meant that the more Archers they had to try and hit them the better.

"Snipe!" They all fired their bows in a hail of arrows that shot towards the carts. And just according to plan, they exploded. The bottles in the carts shattered and detonated into large explosions near the legs of the Mobile Fortress Destroyer.

"Now Aqua!" He shouted to her, who raised her staff while on the horse. A white ball of light shot out from the staff and patterned formations of magic appeared in the air around her.

When the white ball came close to the Destroyer it suddenly and rapidly expanded into a beam that pounded a massive membrane looking shield that appeared around it. Moments later, it shattered. "Everyone else turn back! Megumin, it's your part now!"

"Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark, I beseech the, combine with my deep crimson. The time of awakening cometh. Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, appear now as an intangible distortion! Explosion!" He and Megumin were suddenly sent flying back as she fired off her magic at the legs of the destroyer, the blast knocking them back even further.

But he managed to land on his feet, he didn't want to crush her to death on his back after all. A large cloud of dust and a massive crashing noise followed the Explosion, and once it all had settled the Mobile Fortress Destroyer was missing half of its legs. "Did I do it?"

"Yeah Megumin, you did it." She rested her her on his shoulder as they stood there for a moment.

"Alright, Archers! Bring the-"

"Warning, this unit has sustained severe damage. Initiating self destruct sequence, all crew should evacuate immediately!" Oh….

Fuck!

They had to move fast now, "Bring the ropes! Now!" The Archers came charging back over on horseback and fired their bows over the Mobile Fortress Destroyer, landing atop it. The ropes tensed up. "Someone get word for everyone to come over here, we have no time to lose!" One of the horse riding Archers charged back towards the gate. "Alright Megumin, I didn't intend for it to go like this but you're going to have to have a front row seat of the action for now." He moved her from his back to hold her in his arms. "Hold tight"

His thruster pack fired up after having not been used in so long, he shot up into the air. It was his only way of getting aboard the Destroyer quickly since he was absolutely sure that the ropes would've been able to hold his and Megumin's weight. Ballistae fired at him as he flew up and then landed on top, he quickly moved into cover and then rotated Megumin back onto his back. Then he put the hand cannon back on. It was time to go to work. He loaded in the magazine full of explosives and shot out of cover. "Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath!" Three of the bottles shot out, three of the Golems on top were obliterated.

There weren't many on top, most were destroyed the quasi bombing raid they'd done before, but they still were a considerable threat. "Wind Breath! Wind Breath!" Another two Golems fell, he heard the sound of clanking metal and climbing.

"Surround the Golems! Overwhelm them with numbers and hammer them while they're down!" An adventurer who'd finally made it aboard shouted. He was followed by a plethora of all other adventurers, and they fought the Golems.

They bashed their way through room after room, Golems fell in their path of destruction. "We found it!" Someone shouted, bashing through a door. The door lead into an empty room where the skeleton of a man sat alone, this had to be the control room. He walked over and picked up a book that sat near the body.

"It's… in Japanese?" Nothing else in this world was Japanese aside from those 'cheats' that Aqua had sent over before him, that meant the one who created this thing was technically from his own world. Damn people like them sometimes.

His Japanese was a little bit rusty, the last time he'd actually practiced any of it was back when he was still training on Reach as a kid, but it would have to do for now. He quickly flipped through the pages, looking for anything that might help. "...Coronatite ore core… forced to make it… no regrets…' He punched through the skull of the skeleton, for good measure. He turned around. "Alright, I want everyone out of this thing before it blows. I"m going to look for the core and see if there's any way for me to deal with it." He handed Megumin off to Wiz, who'd followed them in.

Then he sprinted out of the room and searched for the core of the Mobile Fortress Destroyer. It took him awhile but he eventually managed to find it after picking up a massive heat source. He rushed into the room, the Coronatite was behind a steel fence. He pried open a hole large enough for him to fit through so he could be able to reach it… But how was he supposed to actually get rid of this thing? It was glowing red and going to blow up.

A few seconds passed, then he realized what he needed to do. "Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath! He fired up at the ceiling and blasted a hole through the Mobile Fortress Destroyer, he could see the outside. There was only one thing he could do. He set his shields to overcharge and ran over to the Coronatite, picking it up and holding it close to his chest. "Freeze! Freeze! Freeze!" He'd have to keep it from prematurely setting, at least until he got away from Axel.

He used his thruster pack to shoot out of the hole in the Destroyer and landed out on top, then he jumped and rolled to the ground below. Then he began sprinting as quickly as he could. "Aurdel?! Where are you going?!" Aqua shouted as he ran.

"I'm getting rid of the core! Freeze! Freeze! Freeze! And if I find out that you spent all the money we have on booze I'm coming back to haunt your head with my fist! Freeze! Freeze! Freeze!" He was unable to hear anything else she shouted as he sprinted off in the opposite direction of Axel. His shields boiled away completely even with the overcharge, the paint on his armor was melting off and inside his suit it was beginning to get extremely hot.

He had to push himself to his limits again, he sprinted as quickly as he could. This wasn't the first time he'd heard of Spartan essentially delivering their own death via bomb, he'd heard about it from the Battle of Furmoile. Technically they were 'missing in action' but he knew the truth. And at this rate he'd be missing too. "Freeze! Freeze! Freeze!" The town began to become barely visible behind him as he continued to run.

His legs were becoming tired, his chest was burning and sweat beaded and streamed down his face inside his helmet. "Freeze! Freeze! Freeze!" When he was finally too tired to keep going he practically collapsed. The place he'd stopped was near a small lake so he dumped the Coronatite in even though he knew it would be able to stop it from detonating. When he looked at his armor the chestplate was totally blackened with small portions having begun to melt. His gauntlets were in similar shape, though there was nothing that would be too hard to cover up. That is, if he got out of here.

He couldn't stand up, he sat collapsed near the lake and watched as a massive amount of steam and hot air rushed upwards. It was only a matter of time. His visor polarized as the lake completely boiled away and light and fire filled it instead, there was nothing he could do. He closed his eyes, "Teleport!" and the world violently exploded and shifted around him.

* * *

When he came to Aurdel heard the massive explosions occurring, but he was nowhere near it. Instead he was on the ground near Axel. He tilted his head to look around, "Are you okay?" a familiar voice asked. When he looked up he found himself looking at that same woman he'd met on Christmas Eve, the one that helped him put up all those decorations.

"Yeah… I'm fine." No, no he wasn't.

"Yunyun?! What are you doing here?!" He heard Megumin shout as everybody came running over, she was still on Wiz's back though.

And that made him think about something, he hadn't even asked her for her name when he met her. Well at least he had it now. "A-ah! Megumin, my rival!" Rival? "What a coincidence that we'd show up in the same place!"

"Can we please do this some other time. Someone take off my helmet, it feels like a pressure cooker in this suit. Darkness reached down and took the helmet off of him. Collectively there was a "woah" around him from the adventurers because he'd quite literally hid his face from almost everyone.

"So Yunyun, you seem to be a great magic user. How would you feel about joining our party?" If she was the one who teleported him, he wanted a spell like that on command.

"Really?! You'd let me join your party?!" Her eyes were glowing red, she was definitely a Crimson Demon like Megumin.

"Aurdel I have to protest this! By my honor as-"

He cut Megumin off, "I'm not giving you a say in this, this is Yunyun's choice."

The excitement on her face was overwhelming, "I'd love to!"

He smiled,"That's good. But uh, can you hand me those pipes? There was something that I was planning to do with them." The sun was beginning to set out over the horizon.

"Oh, sure." She picked them up and handed them to him. He slid the hand cannon on, then loaded in the magazine.

He raised his arm towards the sky, "Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath!" Six projectiles launched out of the pipe and then met in the air.

The steel balls struck the explosives in the air, and they lit up the darkening sky. Adventurers and citizens alike ooh'd and ah'd at the colorful display. He knew his chemistry, he mixed in the metals he needed to get the colors he wanted. This first set was a bright display of reds, oranges and yellows. He loaded in another magazine, "Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath! Wind Breath!" Six more projectiles launched out and more explosions in the air, this time bright blues, greens and purples. By the time he finished the last two pipes he had on him he was completely exhausted. So he laid his head out on the grass and shut his eyes, then fell asleep.

* * *

**AN: Happy (Early) New Year**


	13. Chapter 13

**...New Day, New Attitude…**

"A-Aurdel, you really didn't have to do all of this for me."

"Don't worry Yunyun, there's no problem in me having to do it. I just want to make sure that you're comfortable here." It was morning and he was already up, preparing things for the day. The night before he'd let her sleep in his bed and he slept on the couch since there hadn't been a room ready for her. But now he was making breakfast, something he didn't do too often. He kept his helmet off as he cooked as it gave him some form of comfort since there was something on his mind. The others came downstairs.

"Auuurdel…" Aqua groaned.

He didn't need her to saying anything else to already know what was up, "How could you have spent the portion of the reward money I gave you already?! It hasn't even been a day yet!"

"I don't need to explain anything! We just need to go on a quest so I can pay off my debts!"

"Really, you need to start watching what you're doing. Sooner or later you'll find yourself in a hole so deep you won't be able to dig yourself out of it, and I'll have to come and bail you out again."

"That won't happen! Just you watch!"

"It's too early in the morning for this arguing…" Megumin moaned, rubbing her eyes as she sat down. "Is there at least a quest picked out for us?"

"No, not yet. I didn't want to go over to the guild until you were all awake. So eat your breakfast do we can go over and look for something before the other quests are taken."

"I don't think very many adventurers are going out Aurdel, the reward for taking down the Mobile Fortress Destroyer was quite substantial," Darkness pointed out.

"That's no excuse for lazing around while there are things to be done and opportunities to be had. Now hurry up and eat."

* * *

"Good morning Luna, how are you?"

"Good morning Aurdel! I'm fine, but I have something for you. Here." She handed him a small box wrapped in a cloth, "I made you lunch for later."

"Oh thank you," he graciously accepted it.

"I also saved a new quest for you, I figured that since I knew you were coming here I would prepare something beforehand." She handed him a paper that normally would've went up on the board with a smile, then walked away with her hands folded.

"Is it just me, or does she seem to be acting too friendly with him?" Aqua said

"Yes, she's happily normally but now she seems to ," Darkness added.

"Don't say things like that, she a hard working woman. She doesn't deserve to be judged harshly like that, especially by the likes of _you_."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"The fact that only you responded, Aqua, already says more than enough."

"Can you two quit bickering? I want to see what quest we have, I feel like today I'm going to cast my biggest explosion yet!" Megumin was being impatient, so he decided to finally look at it.

"It's a quest for a place called Keele's Dungeon," Megumin slumped her shoulders, "how can you possibly be disinterested in this quest already?"

"I can't do anything in dungeons! If I used my Explosion magic it'd be sure to collapse it. So pick a quest you can utilize me in, something that can prove my power as an Archwizard!"

"Megumin, we have Yunyun. We don't need to worry about not having magic in a dungeon." Aqua and Darkness looked shocked, apparently they'd completely forgotten Yunyun was even there. Megumin meanwhile curled over like she was dealt a blow to the gut.

"T-that's right," Yunyun stuttered out, embarrassed by the attention, "I know intermediate and advanced magic, so going into a dungeon shouldn't be-"

"I changed my mind! I'll go!" Megumin shouted.

"Eh?! But you just said you didn't want to!"

"I won't lose to you Yunyun, even if it means going into a dungeon!"

"What is with this rivalry between you two?" He folded the paper and put it into one of his armor's hardcases with the lunch.

"Wait, aren't you going to ask us about what we think about the quest?" Aqua pestered.

"Aqua is right, even though I think that we should go you-"

"No, frankly you two have opinions I value the least. And it's already three out of five in agreement so majority rules to begin with." Aqua immediately went to pouting while Darkness was thrilled with being abruptly interrupted and talked down to.

"Well, we always had duels at school. Megumin always won and took my lunch, but I'll beat her eventually!"

"You stole her lunches?"

"Due to personal reasons those lunches were all that kept me alive in life and death situations,"

He shook his head, "What kind of backwards world is this…?"

And with that they left the guild, "Is there anything than any of you can tell me about Keele's Dungeon?"

"It's supposed to be thoroughly explored already, so I'm not entirely sure why they'd need adventurers to explore there."

"The notice said that it was because a new passage was discovered there by accident, completely unexplored. For all we know it could be full of monsters."

"Or it could be full of treasure!" Aqua exclaimed, "I think that if we find treasure I should get the larger cut. After all, I am a Goddess."

"A… Goddess?" Yunyun said timidly.

"Yes, Aqua is a self-proclaimed Goddess. It's sad really."

"You're right… That is sad…"

"I am not self-proclaimed!"

* * *

"Aurdel, give us a break!" Aqua moaned

"We haven't even been walking that long, how can you be tired already?! Have you also noticed that there's nobody complaining except for you?"

"Yeah but my feet hurt and I'm really hungry!" She dropped to the ground to throw a tantrum, they wouldn't get anywhere if she kept acting like this.

"Fine, we'll take a short break. But only a short one because I want to get back home from this quest before complete sundown." She immediately jumped up and skipped over to a nearby tree and sat down in the shade, closing her eyes and snoring like she'd ignored half of what he'd said. He shook his head and they all walked over into the shade too where he sat down and took off his helmet. "I might as well take the time to have lunch now since we have the time." He took out the box that Luna had given him, carefully unfolding the cloth around it before opening it up and beginning to eat.

"Um, Aurdel, If you don't mind me asking, but why is your hair like that? You don't have to answer but-"

"No it's fine Yunyun, I can explain it." He set down the box and ran his gauntlet through his hair. For the most part it was normal, straight, short and jet black. But at the front of his head of hair was a large streak of silver. "I'm not really supposed to tell anyone about it since it's all classified, but since I've died once and am far out of ONI's reach I have nothing to fear. A few years ago I underwent a medical procedure to enhance my body, it succeeded and this streak was one of its side effects. Not everybody who underwent the same procedure I did was affected in the same way but nobody came out unscathed. After all, it wasn't the first time I'd undergone it."

"'It wasn't the first time?'"

"It wasn't. The first time it happened was when I was fourteen, it was far from successful.

"This was back in the year twenty five twenty five, by that point we'd been training for eight years and Chief Mendez and decided it was time for us to take the next step to becoming Spartans. The last thing I remember before them putting me under for the augmentations was talking to my team, the rest is a blur. Initially for me the augmentation process was going well, but when they got to my legs things went wrong. My right leg began to bend horribly out of shape and the pain was so bad that I managed to wake up despite all of the anaesthetic they'd given me. They had to tranquilize me after I broke out of the chair and severely injured one of the doctors."

"After that I was confined to a wheelchair and it wasn't until some time later that I saw . When she came into the room and told me that I wouldn't be able to fight I was outraged, I'd spent most of my life training to do what I now couldn't do. So I did what they said I shouldn't be able to do, I stood up. I stood up and walked straight over to her and looked her dead in the eyes, no matter how much pain it caused me to get up, and told her that I would fight. After that she said she would see what she could do, then left. After that and the funeral ceremony I underwent rehabilitation therapy and they amputated my right leg, replacing it with a prothstetic. You can't tell because of the suit and armor but all of my right leg is fake"

"In the end what happened to me was far from the worst, thirty of us died to those augmentations. But fast forward years later to twenty five forty three and they tried again, that time it worked and I was augmented. That's how I got my silver streak. But every time I look at my reflection and see that bit of hair all I'm reminded of is the past I won't ever forget." They all sat wordlessly as he finished, the mood was somber now.

"That's a really creative story, I never expected you to come up with something like that," Megumin said.

"It does sound like quite a far fetched tale," Darkness added.

He stood up, "You can believe whatever you want about what I said, but I know who I am and what I went through. Nothing will ever change that. But enough of that, we're burning sunshine when we should be on our way to that dungeon."

Megumin, Yunyun and Darkness all stood up. "Aqua get up, you lazy bum. We have to-" He cut himself off, "Something's coming," he drew his sword. Darkness prepared her own weapon even though he knew she couldn't hit anything, and both Megumin and Yunyun prepared themselves to use their magic. "Enemy Detection says it's strong… Yunyun! It's coming from your side!"

"Light of Saber!" A whip of yellow light cracked through the air, he heard something scream as it was cut apart by it. He came running over.

"Good work, it almost snuck up on us."

"T-thanks." The monster that had almost snuck up on them took the form of a large black cat. Well, at least it had taken up that form. Right now it was nicely cut into two separate pieces by Yunyun's magic.

"Eh? Did I miss something while I was asleep?"

"Yes, we drank all your wine."

"Noooo!"

**...Delving Into the Depths...**

"So, this is Keele's Dungeon. These ruins make it look more like some destitute temple."

"Well I think for it being a Dungeon for beginners it's much too far away."

"Aqua, can't you do anything but complain…? Anyways, is there anything else that I should know before we go in? Are there traps of any kind?"

"There shouldn't be any traps in the explored sections, but there's no telling what might be in the new passage. After all this dungeon was created a long long time ago by the kingdom's greatest Archwizard." Effectively they were going in blind, not ideal.

"Yunyun and Aqua you two are going inside with me, Darkness and Megumin you two are staying out here."

"Why do I have to go with you?!" Aqua pouted.

"Yeah, and why do I have to stay outside?!" Megumin cried as well.

"Why are you even asking that question? You said yourself that you can't even use your magic inside a dungeon or else it'll collapse! As for you Aqua, I'd expect their to be undead and since you're supposed to be an Archpriest that means it's your job to deal with them.

"Why do I have to stay with Megumin? It would be much more thrilling to go into the dungeon and be ambushed by undead monsters, ravaging me with their nasty, dirty bodies and forcing me into compromising positions with their animalistic behavior~"

"It was just so you could act as a rear guard and stop anything from coming in after us, along with protecting Megumin, but you just gave me another reason."

And with that he, Yunyun and Aqua entered the dungeon, descending the tall set of stairs into the depths below. He heard Darkness and Megumin begin to argue as they entered, something about Megumin being able to protect herself, but as they went deeper the arguing disappeared entirely. "Can either of you see in the dark?"  
"Of course I can, I'm a Goddess! My powers might have decreased somewhat since being transported here but seeing in the dark isn't an issue!"

"S-somewhat," Yunyun said timidly, "It's not perfect though, s-so I'm stumbling a little."

"Then stay close to me, I'll be able to find the way through."

"How are you able to see in the dark with that helmet on?" Aqua asked.

"Have you considered that this helmet can allow me to see in the dark? Of course my vision in the dark is just fine without it, but it helps to have something to further support it." Yunyun got closer to him as they continued walking down and eventually left the stairs, navigating the dungeon. It was a huge winding maze of corridors and were it not for the map he was almost sure that they might've gotten lost.

But ultimately the map lead them straight into one of the walls of the dungeon, Aurdel looked up from the piece of paper. "I suppose this is where unexplored territory begins. The switch should be right… here." He pushed one of the stones on the wall and it slid in. Moments later the rest of the wall split open and slid into the sides of the room, revealing a dark passageway.

"I bet we're going to find tons of treasure!"

"Don't get your hopes up, for all we know it could be some mistake and we're just re-treading another section. And besides if we do find any treasure I'm holding on to it to split once we're done."

"You don't have to crush my dreams so swiftly!"

"Then dream of something that isn't money," he stepped through the passageway.

"Then what am I supposed to dream about?! Money is really important!"

"I don't know, going home? Having those around you that care for you as you care for them? Materialism is only going to get you so far." They continued walking, descending down another tall staircase in further darkness.

"Those are a bunch of stupid dreams! Why would a Goddess like me need anyone? I can support myself!" He began to pick something up on his motion tracker and with Enemy Detection, he and Yunyun stopped. But Aqua kept walking, "If I got what I wanted I'd be head Goddess and make everyone do my work, especially that Eris! She thinks she's so great just because she has a currency named after her, but she can go and…" Her voice got more and more distant and she kept walking.

"Shouldn't we stop her? Something might attack her if we don't."

"No, I think we're going to let irony be the teacher this time around." After waiting a moment they heard Aqua scream and they charged down, finding her on the floor in the mouth of a monster chewing on her. He pulled out his sword and cut the creature in half allowing Aqua to easily slide out. She stood up, like nothing had happened.

"T-that's a Gremlin, a low demon you usually find in dungeons like these. I could've handled it though, there was no reason for you to steal it from me," she said this while half crying.

"Unless 'handled it' refers to becoming dinner we're on different pages." They all began to walk again.

Aside from the sound of their footsteps on the stone and the occasional distant monster noise there was an eerie silence as they walked, nothing was jumping out at them. But Aurdel was making a map of the new passageway so not having anything to fight made it much easier for him to do. "Eeep!" Aqua screamed as something else happened. This time, when he looked over, she'd run into a skeleton. The body was covered with gear and weapons that obviously haven't been touched for quite some time. Clearly it was an adventurer, one that hadn't been as lucky as they'd been so far.

"We need to stay on guard, if something killed this one then there's sure to be something around."

He kept his sword drawn and Yunyun stayed on guard, Aqua knelt down alongside the skeleton. "What are you doing?"

She hushed him and then closed her eyes, "Oh, lost soul with unfulfilled ambitions. Go, rest in peace." Light enveloped the skeleton and it's gear, then after a moment it was gone. "That should do it."

"Why can't you be like that more often?"

"Be like what?" She stood act.

"Like an actual Goddess."

"I am an actual Goddess!"

"You sure don't act like one."

"Now listen here you big green giant!" They all began to walk again, "I don't know where you get off on trying to hurt my pride but it isn't working!"

"I don't get off to hurting your pride, you just don't act like a Goddess."

"Oh yeah?! Then how is a Goddess supposed to act?!"

"Kind, benevolent, altruistic, humble and non alcoholic."

"That's boring! Yunyun, what do you think?"

"I-I don't know… I think I'd prefer what Aurdel is describing…"

"Eeeeh?! How can you take his side?!" Aqua shrieked.

He began to detect more enemies, "Quiet, you're going to attract monsters."

"Oh, you're worried about monsters over this Goddess? Then why don't I bring them straight to you!" She cleared her throat, "HEY YOU UNDEAD SUCKERS! WE'RE OVER HERE! COME AND GET US!" There was a sharp spike in the enemies he was picking up, "How's that for attracting monsters?!"

"I'm gagging you the next time we do anything," he shoved her behind him as the enemies he detected began to come closer.

"Create Water! Freeze!" He sprayed water down the hallway the enemies were approaching them from, soaking the floor with water, then froze it. When the monsters came charging through they lost their balance and slipped on the ice, making them sitting targets.

"Lightning!" Yunyun cast her magic striking the fallen foes with a bolt of lightning and killing a good portion of them. "Flash!" A bright light shone from her hands and blinded the creatures. An ability like that would be very effective in normal circumstances, but against creatures that were underground for all of their lives the effect would be increased several fold.

"Good job Yunyun, I'll deal with the rest of them." He increased the strength of his shields on the bottom of his boots, then ran onto the ice. Effectively skating atop it he drew close to each of the blinded undead creatures, each one grasping for their eyes, then struck with Gram, cutting them to pieces. After a few moments all of the creatures were dead, he sheathed his sword.

"Fireball!" Yunyun summoned of a flaming ball in her hand and threw it down onto the ice, quickly melting it and preventing it from being an obstacle to them in the future. Aurdel readjusted his shields back to normal, then walked back over.

"Good work. Now Aqua, isn't there something you have to do?"

"What? Do you want me to apologize? Well you aren't-"

"No you idiot. These creatures are undead, aren't you supposed to do something about undead?"

"Don't tell me how to do my job!" She collected herself, then raised her arms. "Souls that wander this dark, cold dungeon, you may rest in peace now." Light filled the places and images of spirits rose from the floor and upwards, disappearing into the ceiling of the dungeon. When she was done the light disappeared and she lowered her arms, "There, happy?"

"Content is the best way to put it. Let's keep-"

"Excuse me, is one of you a Priest?"

The three of them turned around to see a skeletal figure in robes speaking, "Who are you?"

"I am Keele, the creator of this dungeon, and if one of you is a Priest I wish to have a favor from you, I want you to purify me."

"You want to be exorcised?" The three of them were all caught off guard by this, even Aqua who was usually gung-ho about purifying undead didn't know what to say.

"Yes, I may be undead but I wasn't always this way. Follow me, I'll explain to you as we walk." Keele turned, and began to walk. With no other choice they followed him. "Before I became a Lich I used to be the Kingdom's greatest Archwizard, I was praised around the country for my magic and acts of service. But I loved a Princess, one of the King's daughters that he'd married off for political reasons. So when the time came and I went before the King to be rewarded for my actions he told me I could have any one thing. At that moment I prostrated myself before him and said, 'Your Highness, all I want is her," and I pointed to the Princess, 'She is unhappy under you so allow me to take her.' But the King refused me and was so offended by what I'd said that he ordered my death."

"That's awful, how did you manage to escape?"

"With her," they entered a room and he pointed to a skeleton lying on a bed, "I took her and we ran away together, fighting the kingdom along the way. That's why I became a Lich, so I could defend her." He rested his boney hand on hers, "And we enjoyed that time together, we felt like we could take on the world. But eventually she became too weak and I made this dungeon to protect her in her last days. I've been waiting since for a Priest powerful enough to exorcise me, so I might be able to see her again." Aurdel's face was red from hearing the story, luckily it was hidden under his helmet but it still reminded him of… "I just wonder if she was happy when she passed…" Keele looked solemn.

"She passed without any regrets, her soul doesn't linger here," Aqua said in a dignified manner, "And if it's your wish, I can purify you."

Keele looked up, "You'd do that for me?" He looked grateful.

Time passed and Aqua drew a magic circle on the floor of the room they were in, "I really can't wait to see her again."

"I'm sure that if you ask the Goddess in charge of reincarnation she'd be able to make sure you meet again," Aqua raised her hands,"Archwizard Keele, you abandoned your humanity and God's laws willingly to become a Lich, to defend those that you love. In the name of the Goddess of Water, Aqua, your sins are forgiven." Light began to fill the room, "When you awaken you will find a Goddess. If age nor gender or even the form you shall take hinders you, you can ask for help to find your beloved again. Your wish will come true… Sacred Turn Undead."

Keele, with a smile and a hand on the woman's hand, whispered, "You're free to take anything from here you wish, thank you." Then he vanished along with the skeleton

* * *

Aurdel was quiet, he still didn't know what to say after all of that. The only sound came from their footsteps as the three of them left the dungeon, along with the jingle of gold and various other treasures in a bag carried by Aqua. "Y-you know, I think there's something to be learned from those two."

"From them? What could you possibly learn from an undead Lich?"

"They both devoted their lives to each other, no matter the struggles they faced, and enjoyed their time together. I don't think anyone would want to spend their lives in any other way." He muttered silently, "Not in any other way…"


	14. Chapter 14

**...A Day To Waste…**

"What do you mean there aren't any quests available?"

"I'm sorry, but no one posted anything on the board today because they're all busy with all the stalls that have come into town. All the adventurers are at them too, even Dust who usually spends his days harassing me hasn't shown up."

"Hmmm… Then I guess we'll just have to find something to do."

"Aurdel, why don't we go to some of those stalls?" Aqua asked, "I'm sure that there's lots of games that we can play!"

"No, Aqua, I'd rather we spend our day doing something productive."

"You shouldn't be so uptight Aurdel, you have to unwind sometimes. Even I don't focus on being a Crusader all the time."

"You sure don't act like a Crusader most of the time."

"Now what is that supposed to-"

Megumin interrupted Darkness, "Why do you have to make such a fuss about having fun? Do you ever take any time to just relax?"

"Of course I do! I just think that-"

"A-actually, I'd like to see some of those games," Yunyun said, "Could we please go?" All of them wanted to go now, including the one that had eyes like a poor, abused lost puppy.

"Ah, fine," he relented. "Well if we're going then I might as well ask since I'm here. Luna, do you want to come with us?"

"Me? Oh I don't know…"

"If there's no quests today then I'm sure it'd be fine for you to take some time off. Besides, you're probably long overdue for a break."

She gave a warm smile, "I suppose you're right. Okay, I'll go with you."

* * *

The seven of the walked down the streets of Axel idly conversing, he'd swung by Wiz's shop and asked her to join them. "You know," he said, "you might be able to get some new ideas for merchandise while we're here."

"You're probably right," Wiz sighed, "My shop is still in the red even with all those potions you bought from me."

"How did you manage to end up with so much debt anyways?"

"Well… I find it hard not to buy the magic items that I do. The man that I buy them from has so many and I feel like they're all bound to be useful in some way, so I end up buying large amounts of them. But because no one else thinks they're useful they end up sitting on the shelves. Aqua has also been coming by recently a purified a lot of my cursed items, so I'm unable to sell them." He glared at Aqua, who quickly averted her head.

"I just think you need someone with good business sense. I could help you if you want me too, I could also try and make anything you need."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Sure, anything."

"Say, Aurdel," Megumin began to ask, "how do you know so many skills? A good portion of them aren't on your adventurers card."

"That's something that interests me as well, it personally seems like you have a lot of defensive skills like me," Darkness added on.

"What you know and what you can do isn't defined by some piece of paper. I spent years learning what I know, and that's a good variety of things."

"Like what?"

"Cooking, carpentry, smithing, cleaning and dressing wounds, shooting, sewing. Things like that. Though if I'm going to be perfectly honest I don't use some of those on a daily basis."

"When, how and why did you learn so many of those things without a card?!"

"I learned them out of necessity, it was part of my training. They wanted us to be the best so we had to be the best."

"I-I don't believe you! Why don't you show us one of those skills that you don't have on your card?"

"Fine, I'll show you my abilities with a bow." They walked over to an archery stand where an old man had targets tied to a rail mounted on the wall. "I'll take five shots."

"That'll be fifteen thousand eris young man," and he handed him the coin. The man behind the stall handed him the bow and five arrows.

"I'm also going to teach you a lesson while we're at it, so watch closely." He took a few steps back, then notched his first arrow. He held his breath, aimed, then let it loose. The arrow landed just outside the bullseye on the right, completely penetrating through the target and hitting the rail behind it. He notched another arrow and did the same, but this time when he fired it landed on the left side of the bullseye.

"Son, you do know you're supposed to aim for the bullseye right?" The old man teased.

"No I know, which is why I'm going to make a bet with you."

"A bet?" He raised an eyebrow, "And what would this bet be?"

"That the next three arrows I let loose will all be bullseyes and strike the exact same spot."

"Those are some unlikely odds, what are you wagering?" He smirked.

"Well, I'll get that full rack of… plushies? ...Whatever those toys are on the wall are called, I'll get them all if I win. But if I lose I'll pay you a hundred thousand eris.

His eyes lit up, "Those are extremely slim odds, especially for a man that isn't an archer. And judging by the previous two shots you won't get it. But if you insist on it, I'll take that wager."

"Good," Aurdel smiled behind his helmet, "And I'll make this a little harder for myself and go further back."

He went around fifty feet away from the target, a distance that was about the end of the effective range for a recurve bow such as this. He notched the third arrow, held his breath. Then he let it loose. The old man's smirk disappeared as the arrow landed at a perfectly bullseye, all of the others that he'd brought him were watching intently now. He notched the second arrow and let it loose. Perfect hit. It hit the arrow exact and splintered through it, hitting the bullseye. The old man looked worried now and motioned his hand to grab something under the counter. It was just as he'd thought, this game was supposed to be rigged. Unfortunately for the old man he'd figured this out when he first went to the stall.

He notched the third arrow, held his breath… Then he made it look like he let loose the third arrow. The target suddenly shook as the old man yanked his hand, but besides that it stayed in place on the rail. Now that the old man knew he knew, he'd shoot. He let loose the third arrow for real and it hit dead on, splintering the second arrow. He walked back over to the stall and placed the bow on the counter. The old man begrudgingly took back the bow and handed him the entire rack of the toys. They walked away, "So, notice anything?"

"Not really, just that I really want those plushies," Aqua said as he pushed her away.

"The target moved slightly before you fired the arrow… the game was rigged?" Megumin asked, a little unsure of her answer.

"Correct, that's why I fired my first two arrows the way I did. The targets were set up on a rail, one that could easily be used to nudge them one way or another. So I shot the arrows through the target and hit the rail to stop the target from moving when I shot my last three arrows."

"Were… were you really telling the truth about your past?"

"I told you that you could believe whatever you wanted to, right? It doesn't matter what I say about it. Now someone takes these things from me because I really don't want to have to carry them around all day." And with they they rushed him to take one for themselves.

"Hey Aurdel, this one is weird. I think it's breath- Ow!" She suddenly pulled back, "That one attacked me!"

"I like it already," he took a closer look at it. It was a black cat with a red cross on its head and what looked like tiny wings. He scratched it behind its ears and it let out a purr.

"Aurdel! Can we keep her?! I promise she'll be a good child!"

"Child? It's a cat, not a kid. But I guess we can keep it, I don't think it'll cause any trouble." The cat meowed, "We need to give it a name though."

"Chomusuke."

"What-"

"It's name is Chomosuke."

"I personally hope you don't have children, so you don't give them a name like that."

They kept walking around the town looking for things to do, eventually coming across another game that people were playing. This time it was one crowded with adventurers all trying to break what looked like a large rock. "Come on!" The man running game stood atop a stool, "Is there no one that can break this rock?!" Most of the people around it were beefy looking men, ones that obviously were extremely strong and most likely served as Crusaders or Knights or whatever other class strength applied to.

One man stepped up and picked a hammer prepared by the owner of the stall, raising it high into the air. Then he brought it down hard onto the rock. Sparks flew, but when the adventurer stepped back the rock was perfectly intact. "This thing really is unbreakable…" The man said, there was a muttering from the crowd around him.

"This man here has failed! The prize is now one hundred and twenty five thousand eris! Entrance fee is ten thousand and for every loss the pot will increase by five thousand! Arm strength! Magic! It's all fine! This rock is made of adamantite and if you can break it you'll be considered one of the best adventurers around!"

"Say, what is adamantite? Darkness, a while back you mentioned something called adamantoise. Is adamantoise an alloy of adamantite?"

"It is. Adamantite is one of the strongest materials there is, you usually see it being used in sets of armor."

"I see… Why don't you try breaking it?"

"Breaking it? I don't know… I can give it a try though." Darkness was pretty strong, so it was entirely possible for her to break it. She stepped forward and paid the man the ten thousand eris, then picked up the hammer. She raised the hammer high above her head and…!

"How did you miss…?! It's a rock! A big rock!" It was a complete miss as Darkness hit the paved stone of the ground alongside the rock, her face turned bright red.

She dropped the hammer and walked back over, covering her face. "...Yunyun, why don't you try with your magic?"

"I-I don't think it'd break it, it's not strong enough."

Megumin threw her cape, "Allow me, my magic is-!"

"Absolutely not, I don't need you blowing up the town," Megumin lowered her head. "If no one else is going to try, no one that won't cause more destruction than this game is worth, then I"ll take a crack at it." He stepped forward to the stand where the man was, he handed him the ten thousand eris. But unlike the others he didn't take the hammer.

Instead, he went straight to the rock and picked it up with an idea in mind. Then he tossed the rock straight up into the air, the adventurers around him watched as it soared upwards. He got himself into position as it reached its peak and began to come down, he looked up and readied his fist. The moment it came within striking distance he threw his punch and struck the rock, hitting it with as much force as possible and splitting it in half. The man at the stall's jaw dropped, obviously he wasn't expecting anyone to break the adamantite at all. Especially in the way he had. The others around him were all speechless too

"Strongest metal is an exaggeration, that only felt like a thick layer of steel." He walked over to the stall, where the man dejectedly handed him a bag full of the prize money.

"How are you so strong?" Luna asked and they walked away.

"It's like I told them, part of it was my training and part of it was my augmentations. Anyways, we can probably start to split up. It's probably quite a sight for all eight of us to be walking around as a group. You can go and do whatever you want but let's meet up afterwards for dinner."

"Hey Darkness, come on! I think I saw a dunk tank somewhere over there!" Aqua ran off.

"H-hold on! Wait for me!" She ran off after her.

"I'll just look for something big and hard to cast Explosion on, and I won't stop until I find something!" Megumin charged off somewhere.

The other three were still with him, "Are you guys going to stay or…?"

"I'd rather stay and talk with you some more," Luna said.

"S-same," Yuyun said timidly.

"Wiz?"

"I wouldn't mind walking with you all, so I'll tag along." Looks like they were walking as a group of four, then.

The streets were still bustling with people at this time of day, but people parted way for them as they walked. "So Aurdel, you told us about your training but what about before?" Yunyun asked, she seemed to be a little more confident when the others weren't around.

"So my childhood?" She nodded, "Well, that was a long time ago. I don't think I'll remember everything but I'll try and see what I can." He was quiet for a moment, thinking of where to start. "Okay. To begin with, I never knew my real parents. I don't have any memories of them and no one had ever found out who they were. The parents that I knew were the ones that adopted me and gave me my name. Joseph and Amelia Ganowicz."

"They were kind, well intentioned and quiet people. They never hurt me or yelled at me and I enjoyed being their son. I had a brother too though, their biological son, and he was two years younger than me. We got along well. Of course I didn't know them for a long time…"

"You didn't know your parents for a long time?"

"No, I didn't. When I was six I was kidnapped as part of the Spartan II program. Unfortunately on the same night of the agents breaking into our home to kidnap me and swap me out with a clone, a fire broke out. No one woke up except for the clone who was in shock and unable to move or speak.

"That's horrible!"

"It is, and that's when I started my training. But not everything was horrible, I met two people I would never forget while I was there. And because up to that point I'd lost two families and my home, those two would become my family."

* * *

"Trainees, form three lines," Mendez said. The instructors immediately descended upon them to make sure the order was followed through with, but Aurdel and all the others made three rows without any trouble. "The first person in every row will be team number one, the second person in each row will be team number two and so on. If you don't understand this, speak up now." No one dared to speak. Aurdel looked to those who were next to him.

To the left of him was a tall boy with brown hair, hazel eyes and fair skin. He looked tired but aware, and had "Kurt-051" written on his uniform. To the right of him was another boy, average height with brown hair and eyes but looked almost starved. "Musa-096" was written on his uniform. "Today's game is called 'Ring the Bell,'" Mendez said while pointing to a tall pole in the training ground. It was huge compared to the other ones in the area, but next to it was a steel pole with a brass pell tied to the top of it.

"There are many ways to get to the ball, I leave it up to each team to find their own way. When every member of your team has rung the bell, you are to get groundside double time and run back here across this finish line." Mendez took his baton and drew a straight line in the sand. He didn't see it, but apparently one of the other kids raised their hands. "A question, trainee?"

"What do we win?"

"You win dinner, number one one seven. Tonight, dinner is roast turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies and ice cream." A wave of approval came from all of the kids before Mendez spoke again.

"But, for there to be winners there must be a loser. The last team to finish goes without food." And they all fell silent, staring at each other.

"Hey, you two," the boy on his left whispered. He and Musa looked over at him, "Follow my lead, I have a few ideas on how we can level the playing field."

"Who made you team captain?" he whispered back.

"Do you want dinner or what?"

"Fine then, boss." They all readied themselves.

"Go!" Mendez shouted. All of the kids scurried away from the starting area, but he, Kurt and Musa were all moving together as opposed to the unorganized chaos most of the others were going. The first of the obstacles they faced on the course was a cargo net, one hanging off of a platform.

"Which one of you two is quick?!" Kurt asked.

"I am," Musa said.

"Get up that net quick, then pull us up once we're near the top."

"Got it." Musa shot ahead, only a few of the other kids were able to keep ahead of him as he scurried up the net.

Aurdel and Kurt got up most of the way of the net before Musa was able to grab them, pulling them up. They looked ahead, the next obstacle was a flimsy swaying bridge. Given enough force it could easily tip over. "Are you strong?" Kurt asked him.

"Of course I am!" He said back.

"Then go flip that bridge, we're going to shake this net and knock them down." So he did what Kurt said and ran over to the bridge, he heard the sound of falling kids as he ran off.

There were five kids on it by the time he made it to the bridge, he grabbed hold of the sides and began to twist it. Twisting it all the way around caused the other children to lose balance and fall into the water below. Kurt and Musa came running over by the time he had it flipped back over to the correct side. "Good job! Let's keep moving!" They ran onto the bridge and he followed them. They leapt across several other platforms, shoving trainees that they found in their way off to the side.

They made it as the first full team to get over to the large basket by the pole, it was supported by rope and a pulley. All three of them climbed in and, wordlessly, took hold of the rope and began to pull. They managed to get off the ground when one of the other kids had jumped onto the basket and tried to weigh them down. So Aurdel took off his boot and whacked the kid's face and fingers with it, causing him to fall down to the mud below. He put his boot back on and went back to pulling the rope with the others.

Within a matter of moments they reached the top of the pole in the basket and each of them rung the bell three times. "You know," Musa said, "We should give the others a little more trouble getting up here."

"You're right, that'd mean more dinner for us." The three of them clung onto the steel pole and began to slide, before Aurdel stopped halfway down. Unfortunately for the kids below he was going to make getting up a little harder. He wrapped the rope around the pole and tied it in a knot, then slid the rest of the way down onto the cushions below.

He, Kurt and Musa got up and ran all the way across the finish line, there was only one other trainee when they'd made it. It was one one seven, John, without his team, which made them the first team to complete the course. They all panted and high-fived each other, watching as the others struggled to get the basket down so they could ring the bell. But soon enough the others crossed the line and the exercise was done. "Good work Trainees, let's get back to the barracks and chow down. All except for team three." Mendez looked John and his two teammates.

"But I won," John protested, "I was first."

"Yes, _you_ were first. But your team came in last." Then he addressed them all, "Remember this: You don't win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means that you lose."

He wanted to feel bad for John, but with the dinner they were about to eat he couldn't bring himself to. Back at the barracks the three of them sat together and stuffed themselves with food."You know what?" He said with a mouth full of potatoes.

"What?" Kurt said said.

"I think we worked well together."

"Think? We were the first ones there!" Musa laughed

"No I know, but all I'm saying is," he swallowed the food, "I just hope we can stay as a team."

"I'm sure we will. In fact, I can probably predict what color we're going to be.'

"Oh yeah? What color?"

"Green."

"How could you possibly-?" He looked over Kurt's shoulder and saw Mendez looking at the three of them from a distance. He nodded with approval, then walked away. "Huh, well I guess we're green then. But why green? Why not like a color like red? Or blue?"

"What's wrong with green?" Musa asked, "Green is the color of nature and nature is strong when everything in it works together. Makes sense right?"

"I guess I'm just glad we didn't get something like yellow.," and the three of them laughed together.

* * *

"It sounds like you were close, I wish I had friends like that in school…" Yunyun said softly, "Maybe I should have gone to some place like that."

"Believe me, you do not willingly want to have been there. That was just the first day of it all, and I cut out a lot of the beforehand. Regardless we worked together every day after that and we won more exercises than I can count. We were brothers till the end."

"But obviously that time together did end."

"Yes, it did. Unfortunately for us we weren't always lucky, the augmentations were just one example. Kurt got through fine, but I already said what happened to me and Musa was permanently paralyzed."

"Because of that we all got slated for and sent to different jobs and we never saw each other again since. Kurt was a full on Spartan, I was moved to the Navy as a Captain and Musa got a desk job. But Kurt went missing after only a few years, officially he was MIA but I found out that it meant he was considered dead." The others were silent. "But I kept going, eventually I was out of the Navy and became a Spartan again. After that Reach happened, now I'm here."

"This is all a lot to take in," Wiz said. She seemed to be extremely disturbed by the whole beginning of this, him being kidnapped as a child and forced to train as a soldier.

That wasn't unusual though, he was sure most would react in the same way. "Did you ever find anyone during that time? A woman…?" Luna asked. She seemed to be prying a little, but he didn't mind too much.

"A woman? Yes, there was. Her name was-" He was cut off by the sound of an Explosion that rocked the town. "Oh please don't tell me that what I think it is…" He ran off in the direction of the sound of the explosion and found himself taking a familiar path.

"My shop!" Wiz cried with tears in her eyes.

"Megumin! What the hell?!" Wiz's shop along with the few buildings next to it were completely blown to smithereens, the dust and ash still settling by the time they arrived. Megumin, Aqua and Darkness were all lying on the ground covered in soot.

Aqua looked unconscious, and Darkness mumbled something about how pleasurable it'd been to withstand the blast of an Explosion. "I thought I saw a baby dragon, so I decided to take it out," Megumin said muffled beneath her hat.

"Why would there be a dragon in the city?!"

Luna sighed, "I guess I have to get the paperwork ready, but it was nice talking with you." She walked away.

"What am I supposed to do now? Everything is gone…" Wiz sobbed

"Wiz, I am so sorry for all of this. I'll make sure that everything gets fixed and replaced. For now all I can offer you is to stay in our home while everything is repaired."

"Really? You'd let me do that?"

Aqua's head shot up, "I have to protest this! I won't sleep in the same house as-!"

"Shut up or else you're sleeping in the shed! I'm sure part of this is your fault anyways you dumb blue bi-"


	15. Chapter 15

…**A New Mission…**

"Aurdel, could you explain to me what you're doing with a scarf and a chunk of manatite? I personally can't see how the two would be related," Megumin asked him as he worked, sewing patterns and small stones into a long, red scarf he'd made.

"Well, have you ever considered as to how mana from manatite is transferred to the user from the rock to be used in a spell?

"No, not necessarily."

"...You really should since you're supposed to be an Archwizard but that's besides the point. I decided to see for myself if there was anything that might do it, I found this." He brought over the hunk of manatite, placing it on a crude microscope he'd managed to build. "Take a look."

He gestured to the microscope, "I don't get it."

"You have to put your eyes up to the lens of it to see," he tapped the top of the microscope.

Megumin put her eye up to the lens, "I see patterns of crystals in the manatite… but what are they supposed to mean?"

"They don't mean anything, at least not that I know of, but they do have a specific use. Those patterns act as channels for the flow of mana. That leads us back to this," he put one hand on the scarf and lifted it up. "What I did, with the help of Wiz, was chip off some of the manatite and reconstruct those same crystalline structures in a more refined form. Then after that I sewed them into the scarf."

He threw the scarf around his neck, then took the end of it and threaded it into a hole in an almost completely sealed box on his hip. Once it was in, he had it tied down. "What's that?"

"This is essentially a mana battery. For some reason high quality alcohol in this world is able to hold mana in it once transferred, so that's what I did."

"Ah, so that's why Aqua was crying on the couch."

"Couch? She was on the floor."

"Darkness took her spot on the floor and gave Aqua the couch, she said it was more exciting to lay on the cold floor. "

"That… sounds about right. Anyways, I also took the mana from her and transferred it into this battery."

"...I think I would understand this more if I knew what a battery was."

"Eh, it's an object that stores power. The ones we typically used in my world are electric, but this is all besides the point. Essentially this allows the user to freely carry around a spare pool of mana, one also capable of amplifying the spells they use."

"Does that mean I can test it with Explosion?" She raised her staff.

"Absolutely not, if we manage to get caught in the blast we'll be blown to smithereens by both it and the battery rupturing. So since a deadly friendly fire accident is the last thing I want, I'll just test something that won't kill someone on someone that doesn't matter too much."

He cleared his throat, "Hey Aqua! I'm sorry about taking your wine and mana, you can have it back!" The moment he finished that sentence there was a stampede of footsteps down the hall from a few rooms over, he stood beside the doorway and aimed his right hand directly at it.

Aqua came charging in, "Finally, you've come to-!"

"Wind Breath!" The stones on the scarf shone a bright red, then, as expected, a gust of wind blew from Aurdel's hand. However this gust of wind was much more powerful than the standard spell and sent Aqua flying off into a wall, her head spinning dizzily once she'd actually landed.

"Yes, it does work as I thought it would. I don't know how much more powerful it is than the standard spells, but it's safe to say it's by a multitude."

"I don't understand how you're able to think of these things, what normal adventurer would look at a bunch of rocks and decide to make a magic powering scarf?"

"If you haven't been able to tell by now, I'm not a normal adventurer. I hadn't survived for forty one years just by plain luck Megumin, there's reasons behind it. Because while your world here might be dangerous, where I'm from is much more so."

"Because where I'm from battles were fought day to day for the survival of humanity. And in those battles you had to think on your feet and use everything you could to your advantage, or the only thing you'd accomplish is being placed on a casualty list." He sighed, "Though of course I did get added to one because I died because of my injuries on Reach, but that's another story entirely."

There was an awkward silence, "So are we going on a quest or not?"

"Today? No, it's far too late to go on one. Besides, I still have to help Wiz and Luna with all of the damage reports and paperwork after what you did."

"I swear that I saw a baby dragon inside the city! You can ask Aqua and Darkness, they saw it too!"

"You're just lucky we won't get taken to court over this. I don't want to imagine the legal cost of trying to defend acts of terrorism."

* * *

"Another dungeon?" He looked at the paper Luna handed over to him.

"I'm afraid so Aurdel, but this time it's actually necessary that you take this quest," she looked pensive after giving it to him. "This quest is far too dangerous for any other party to take, the first party that tried to complete this quest was completely wiped out. After that the other adventurers in the guild recommended that you take it."

Perhaps it hadn't been right for him to show off the other day, it'd leave him in situations like this. The dungeon in question hadn't been named yet as it was newly discovered, located in an area of barren wasteland between Axel and some other city called Alcanretia. But the main reason for it being so dangerous was the enemy encountered, a Vampire. Here, Vampires were one of the top levels of undead, almost nearing the power of a Lich, and as such were extremely deadly. Nearly all of those who'd discovered the dungeon were killed by this vampire, the only survivor had escaped with serious injuries and was saved by a passing caravan.

But if it was such a big threat, and if he was supposedly the only one possible of stopping it, then he had no choice except to accept the quest. "I don't think you should have too much trouble fighting that Vampire. You're strong and you have that Archpriest that purified Beldia. But please…" She lowered her head and spoke quietly, "...Don't die."

Aurdel left the guild and went back to the mansion where everyone was having dinner. Aqua was drinking, Megumin and Yunyun were 'dueling' and Darkness sat there wishing she could be abused in the same way. They all looked up at him, "Oh, Aurdel. You're back early. Did something happen?"  
"We have a quest for tomorrow," he explained everything.

Aqua put down the glass full of wine, "If that place is close to Alcanretia, we should go there once we're done with the quest! The city has a bunch of great hot springs." Going to a hot spring sounded nice. Unfortunately for him he still couldn't take off his armor, so it didn't matter very much to him.

"I-Isn't that city home to that crazy Axis cult?" Yunyun asked, she was still grappling with Megumin.

"It is, but I think it might be worth it just for the hot springs," Megumin said.

"Hey! Why are you saying such mean things about my followers?! They're all very good children!" Aqua immediately went to pouting defensively.

"The Crimson Demon Village is also along that way, we could head there after we're done with our time in Alcanretia."

"I'd rather we go one step at a time. We'll do this quest and go to Alcanretia, then some other time we can visit your village."

He folded his arms, "Either way we're getting up early tomorrow, I need to arrange for a carriage to actually take us to where we need to go. So finish your dinner and go to bed, and I don't want to hear any complaining about it. I've already told Wiz of our plans to leave so she'll be watching over the house while we're gone so don't leave any big messes for her to clean up. Especially you," he pointed to Aqua.

"Me?! Why me?!"

"Have you seen your own room? It looks like a pig sty in there. Clean it up before we leave or else I'm torching everything in your room."

"Don't you dare!"

**...On The Road...**

"I thought I told you all to wake up early?!" He was annoyed with his party. Everyone, except for Yunyun, hadn't listened to him and slept in.

"What's the big issue? Can't we sleep in?"

"No, because we're going to miss our ride if we don't leave right now!" He rushed them away from home and to a caravan, just outside of Axel. There were several sets of horses with carriages saddled to them, each one filled with people travelling.

Except for one, theirs. "I rented us a carriage, unfortunately someone already paid for one of the seats and put their pet in our carriage. That means we'll have to change up the way we're sitting," he climbed in and sat down. "Unfortunately I'm too heavy to sit on the back as it'd throw the carriage off balance and cause it to tip over, so one of you will have to sit on the back." The four women of his party looked at each other, considering their options.

Then he saw Megumin with a devious smile, she started walking over to the carriage. "Megumin, what are you doing? We haven't decided who is going to sit on the back yet," Darkness ask confusedly.

"I have my own idea," she climbed up into the carriage and, unexpectedly, sat down on his lap. The others were speechless, Yunyun specifically let out a sound of shock and awe.

"M-Megumin?! W-what are you doing?!"

"Taking a seat, what else?" She seemed smug.

"B-but-! Y-you can't just-!" Yunyun stumbled over her words in a panic.

"There's nothing wrong with this, I've already slept with Aurdel before."

"WHA-?!"

"I didn't sleep with you, you fell asleep in my arms. There's a big difference."

"Aurdel, I can't believe it! You're a lolicon!" Aqua shouted.

"What in God's name is a lolicon?"

"Who are you calling a loli?!" Megumin raised her voice and shouted back at Aqua.

"Can you folks quiet it down there and get in the carriage? You're holding up the caravan, so if you don't we'll just have to leave you behind," the driver was beginning to get annoyed with them so it was best to just get it over with. They all climbed in and sat down. Aurdel could tell the air was awkward after Megumin had done. Aqua looked disgusted, Darkness intrigued and Yunyun was completely red and had her face turned away from him. Things never seemed to be normal with them.

People waved as they passed by and left the outer limits of Axel, watching it fade into the distance as they went down the road. He decided to take another look at the paper for the quest. "It says here that the first party that tried to take this quest was moderately high leveled, and that they also prepared a good lot beforehand. Any reason you guys can think of why they might have failed?"

"It's obviously because they didn't have a Goddess like me around to protect them."

"Let me rephrase that, good reasons."

"But that is a good reason!"

"W-well, older Vampires are typically supposed to have stronger magic. That c-could've been it." Yunyun answered him, but was clearly still uncomfortable.

"Well you don't need to worry about magic, not when you have a wielder of the strongest magic there is!"

"M-Megumin, we're going into a dungeon. You can't use Explosion."

"How dare you tell me when I can and can't use Explosion!" He held her back from attacking Yunyun, who shielded herself.

"Why can't you just learn some new magic?! You'd be so much more useful if you did!"

"Let me go Aurdel! I want to show her who's more useful!" She thrashed around trying to break his grip on her, but that wasn't possible so eventually she gave up. Really these to needed to get along better.

He turned his head to look out the window, staring off into the distance. For a while it was homes, farms and grassland. But after hours passed the scenery eventually turned into the badlands that they were expecting. And as expected of a badlands, Aurdel saw nothing. He was about to turn his head back after staring for so long when caught something off in the corner of his eye. "Hmm?" He moved a little, shifting himself to get a better look out the window.

At the same time he ended up waking up Megumin who'd fallen asleep, "Hey, what's the big idea?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm trying to find out." He leaned forward, closer to the window. "That's a dust cloud, off in the distance, but it doesn't look like one from a dust storm…"

Aurdel turned back to the driver, "There's a dust cloud off in the distance, any chance you know what it might be?"

"A dust cloud? Well… It could be a pack of lizard runners, they've started running for mates recently. But I think it's probably just a Sandwhale kicking up sand, so it's nothing to worry about. There are also Running Hawk Kites, but I don't think there's anything hard enough for them to run at in this caravan."

"Hard enough to run at?"

"Yes sir, when mating season starts Running Hawk Kites run at the hardest things they can find to get the attention of females in a chicken race like mating ritual. At the last second they turn away, before they hit the object. But don't be mistaken because all of them can be quite dangerous monsters. If anything though they'll probably charge into a rock."

Hardest thing… He looked down. Well, it was probably safe to say that titanium was an extremely hard material. One of the hardest, in fact, since it was both used in his armor and the armor plating of the UNSC's ships. "How fast can Running Hawk Kites run?"

"Well, about as fast as these horses. Why do you ask? It's not as if we'll have to outrun them. I don't think we could in the desert anyways, it would just put too much strain on our horses."

"Then can we stop the caravan? Because they're coming straight for us."

"Straight for us?" The driver looked over his shoulder, "They do seem to be coming this way… For this carriage in fact." There was some worry in his voice, but he kept himself collected.

Aurdel looked back and Darkness was practically in his face, "Aurdel! There's a horde of monsters charging at us, and I think they're coming straight for me!"

"No they're not, they're going for me. You might think your armor is hard but mine is harder by leagues, so don't get ahead of yourself." She fell backwards, probably missing most of what he said and instead imagining what it would be like to be attacked by a herd of Running Hawk Kites.

"Alright guys, we're up." He leapt out of the carriage with the others, "We're going to need to herd them up if we want to take them out. Yunyun, do you have any spells that can group them up?"

"I have Bottomless Swamp, but we would need a way to actually lure them into it. Once they fall in they're stuck in it."

"I could jump into it, I don't know if I'd be able to get out though."

Aqua lazily leaned out of the carriage, "What are you guys doing?"

"Aqua, do you have a skill that can attract monsters so you can finally be useful?"

"Of course I do! And what do you mean finally be useful?! Here, I'll show you how useful I am right now! Force Fire!" A flare like object shot into the air from her hand, expanding into a bright light far above.

He saw the Running Hawk Kite Runners physically stop, turn to look in her direction instead of his and begin to charge again. "You moron!"

"How am I a moron?! I did what you told me to do!"

"I didn't ask you to do anything!" He ran back to the carriage and pulled out a spool of rope, "Really, think before you act!" Then he ran back to Aqua and tied the rope around her waist, "Yunyun, Megumin! Get your magic ready!"

"We got it!"

"Hey! What are you doing?!" He kicked Aqua's feet out from under her and held her in his arms, then began to run. Megumin and Yunyun ran after him.

"Put me down you damn lolicon!" She hit his helmet, as if it would do anything more than hurt her hand.

"Words that I don't know the meaning of mean nothing to me."

"Then I'll tell you what it is! You're a-!"

"Bottomless Swamp!" Yunyun cast her spell onto the barren ground and a massive purple hole opened up in front of him.

"You can tell me later," he began to swing her around.

"WAIT WHAT ARE YOU-?!" She was cut off by her own swinging as he let go and sent her flying, landing face first in the whatever goo filled that 'swamp.'

"She can't drown in water, so hopefully she'll be able to survive that." Her legs kicked around in the air as she struggled, trying to get out of the swamp. He made sure to hold on tight to the rope so she wouldn't sink any further into it. The Running Hawk Kites continued to charge forward towards Aqua and eventually into the hole. It took a few moments, but eventually the whole pack had fallen into it. Most had fully sunken and couldn't be seen but quite a few still remained at the top and he didn't want to risk any escaping and attacking them again. He yanked hard on the rope and Aqua came flying out of the pit and landed on the ground still covered in that purple goo. Now, since she wasn't muffled, she sobbed aloud.

"Alright Megumin, your turn!"

"Gladly!" They all made sure to run a distance away before she fired off her magic, they wouldn't want to be caught in the blast it made. "Explosion!" Then she did. The entire badlands area around them shook viciously and the swamp was enveloped in the blast, then it settled and neither the swamp nor all the Running Hawk Kites in it could be seen. "Ah, I think that's the second most amount of monsters I've hit with Explosion before." She collapsed, "That felt good."

"I think you take too much pleasure in your magic and in killing things with it."

"What's wrong with being enthusiastic about my craft?"

"There's enthusiastic, and then there's sadistic." He picked her up and brought her back to the carriage. "Alright driver, let's get going again."

* * *

They'd driven for only a few more hours before they stopped again, this time to rest for the night. The wagons were all set up in a circle on the road with all the sleeping travelers on the inside. A light fog had also begun to descend upon the area, something he found odd for a desert. His eyes were shut and he was beginning to fall asleep when he felt someone tapping on his armor. "Um, Aurdel, are you still awake?"

He sat up, "I'm still awake Yunyun, is something wrong?"

"No it's just… I wanted to ask you something," she tapped her fingers together nervously and glanced around. "What did you really do with Megumin?"

"Oh, you're still thinking about that. It was nowhere near what Megumin make it sound like," he shook his head. "It was the first night that we were at the mansion and there were still spirits around, Megumin wasn't comfortable going to sleep. So she sat in my lap and I made sure she felt safe, then I helped her fall asleep."

"Ah… I see." She looked a lot more relieved now, but still a little nervous.

"Was there something else you wanted to ask me about?"

"Well, yes, now that you mention it…" Her voice was barely above a soft whisper, "Can… can you do the same for me?"

"Sure, I have no problem with it. Do you mind if I ask why though? I know that you're a lot kinder than Megumin, but I didn't know you'd ask for it." He took off his helmet and motioned for her to sit down, she did.

"If there's something that Megumin has done, I want to make sure that I've done it to," she seemed a little bit hesitant giving her answer."

He mulled it all over in his mind, "You know for being a rival, you don't seem to hold any ill will against her." He began to stroke her hair carefully.

"I-I do, It's just that y-you haven't seen it," that answer was full of nervousness."

"It seems more to me like you want to be her friend, but that you don't know how to approach her and actually ask."

"I-I don't want to be her friend, she's my rival. I can't be friends with my rival." Again, more hesitation.

"You don't have to spill everything to me, but you do have to be honest with yourself and with what you want. And please relax a little, you look like you're as stiff as a rock."

"S-sorry, I'm just… nervous."

"Just relax, you don't have to worry about anything."

He looked up towards the night sky, staring at the stars. "_Look to the sky and watch far above, watch for the angels that fly with the grace of a dove. And when you do then you will see they are none other than you and me. Because there is no other better way to be, to be here and now with my family._" He sang those words, and he could tell that she was much more relaxed. But those last few words stung him. He kept singing though, "_Because family should be together, there is no way to replace one another. Now quietly close your eyes and rest your head, let your mind wander as you drift off to bed. So that when you wake tomorrow all will be as should be, together. You, and me._"

He looked down, by the time he'd finished she'd already fallen asleep. She slept like an angel, snoring softly. He gave a pained smile to himself, this only reminded him of how much he missed them. He moved carefully to make sure he didn't wake her, taking her off of his lap and laying her down onto the bedroll he'd been sitting on. After that he looked around, there was a pair of Crimson Eyes looking out at him from the dark. "I presume you were listening in the whole time?"

"I was," Megumin stayed laying down. He could clearly see that she was a little upset, "Why'd you do that for her."

"Because she wanted me to do it for her. Is there some valid reason that you can give me for why I shouldn't have?"

"Of course I have one, but I'm not going to tell you. At least not yet. Anyways, I'll only forgive you if you do it for me too."

He sighed, "I don't have any issues doing it, but would it kill you to be a little nicer to her? She doesn't-" He stopped dead in his tracks, he squinted his eyes and looked behind her."

"She doesn't what?" He raised his hands for a moment, he needed her to be quiet. "Don't tell me to be quiet, you didn't finish your-"

Aurdel quickly grabbed his sword and through it, blade forward, just above Megumin. "What was that for?!"

"Because you didn't see the undead that was just about to attack you." Megumin looked up and behind her, the undead monster fell to the dirt beside her and she scrambled back. "Go wake everyone up, I'll fight them for now." He walked up and picked back up his sword, making sure to stomp the undead's head, while Megumin ran off to wake up the rest of their party and all of the adventurer guards that came with the caravan.

The fog that was light before came to be much heavier now, it felt as if it were descending upon the caravan itself rather than just the area itself. He cut through undead creatures as they appeared, making sure that they stayed dead by destroying their bodies. A dozen of them had fallen by his blade when something suddenly happened, one of the carriages exploded! Bits of wood, metal and cloth flew everywhere and everyone who wasn't already awake was stirred awake. "What's going on?!" Someone shouted.

He took a closer look at the shattered carriage, "Jesus Christ." Blood and flesh was splattered, bones strewn about. What little could be made out was the faces of the group that'd been sleeping next to it.

"No, not quite," a voice said. It was a man's voice, one with a silky quality and that of having a silver tongue. He looked for its origin and saw someone standing atop one of the other carriages, they looked to be holding someone. Aurdel drew his sword towards them. "Your group does look strong, so I won't fight you here. No, it would be much better to fight you in my own home. So come if you dare. If not, I'll just kill you all." The voice threw the body down, it was completely pale and drained of blood. They'd found their vampire.

One of the other adventurers prepared to throw a torch of the caravan, so they could all get a clear view of his face. But the moment that they did the figure completely disappeared without a trace. "What the-?!" One shouted, the man that had thrown the torch lay dead on the ground.

"I can see why the other party was wiped out now," Aurdel said grimly.

"A-Aurdel, what do we do?" Megumin asked, quivering. She wasn't the only one among his party that was afraid.

He looked off into the distance, where the fog was the thickest. A blue light shone. "The only thing we can do. Kill a vampire."


	16. Chapter 16

**...Afraid of the Dark...**

Aqua gave those who'd passed their rites, it was all a gruesome scene. "Sir, you're the one paying for this trip! You shouldn't go!" The leader of the caravan said, begging him.

"That may be so, but you saw happened to those people. It's our quest to deal with anyways so there's no reason for the others adventurers to get involved with. Too many others have died already, let us handle it." All the other adventurers were on guard after having slain the undead that had attacked them. They'd most likely been sicked on them as minions of the Vampire, why the Vampire had chosen to reveal itself to them was another question entirely.

Regardless of why, the Vampire had to be dealt with at all costs. He turned to his party, "Are you all ready?" Yunyun and Megumin were trembling with fear, Aqua looked scared and even Darkness looked somewhat frightened.

"We're as ready as we'll ever be," Megumin said.

"Then there's no time to waste, let's move." He led them out from the wagon circle and out into the badlands. Visibility was bad. The darkness was already bad, but the fog didn't make it any easier. He had to make sure none of his party wandered off, so in some cases he was literally leading them by the hand. In the end they made their way towards the light off in the distance.

They came closer and soon the source of the light was revealed, a small tower in front of an entrance to a dungeon. Shadows loomed over its entrance. "I'm picking up enemies, Aqua,"

"I got it. Sacred Turn Undead!" She let out a burst of her purification magic, a large group of undead fell from above the entrance and to the ground below before disintegrating.

"They were going to ambush us… Are undead usually this smart?"

"No, the person who summoned them usually plays a factor in how smart the undead are. So it's entirely possible we're dealing with a much smarter than usual Vampire."

"T-that isn't a very comforting thought," Yunyun stammered out.

"No, no it isn't." They had to think this through, carefully. The fact that they'd almost been ambushed just now very well meant that it could happen again, they would have to be careful. "Alright, when we're walking into the dungeon we'll need to stay in a very specific order. I'll take point. Megumin, you'll be behind me. Yunyun, you're going to be on Megumin left. Darkness, you're on her right. Aqua, you're going to cover the rear. Once we're in we'll have to seal the entrance behind us, just to make sure nothing can follow us in. Got it?"

"G-got it." All their answers were shaky, but he couldn't blame them.

They walked in slowly, passing the looming pillars of marble that stood by the entrance as they did. Quickly, they all turned as one. With the mana battery by his side, he used his magic. "Create Water!" A large amount of water sprayed forward in a wave towards the entrance.

"Freeze Gust!" Yunyun froze the water, putting in place a physical barrier.

"It'll also ruin the airflow the further down we go, which means we won't be able to stay very long. Let's keep moving, Lurk!" He used the Thief skill he learned from Chris on all of them, shrouding them all in darkness.

They kept moving down the corridor of the entrance, staying close to each other so none of them were unconcealed by Lurk or got lost. Each step forward they took, and eventually every step down when they came to the stairs, was taken with an immense amount of care. Eventually, they made it down to the first floor of the dungeon. A small gasp came from one of his party members after witnessing the scene they came across. "Those are-!"

"Previous adventurers," he finished the thought. It was a massacre, they'd had no chance. Pieces of armor and weapons were strewn about, limbs were severed and bent in odd positions and the blood was sucked out of their bodies.

The only things they could identify from their bodies were their classes. A Crusader, a Priest, a Thief and a Wizard. None of the skills they knew had saved them from the fate they'd faced. "Yunyun, do you have any ways of hiding us more? I want to make sure we won't be seen or picked up by anything."

"I-I d-do. Light of Reflection!" She cast her spell and they all essentially became invisible, but even with that they had to stay on guard and keep close. And it seemed to work, no undead creatures chased after them despite Aqua's holy aura that usually drew them like moths to a flame.

The silence was deafening and unnerving, nothing made noise down here. Then all of a sudden, there was a noise as they passed into a new room. It sounded like… a little girl crying. They kept on their guard, Aurdel having his weapon drawn with one hand and Yunyun preparing to use her magic. "S-someone! Help me!" She wailed and cried, sitting against one of the walls of the room with her head between her knees. Aurdel couldn't pick up any other beings in the room besides them and her.

They would keep their distance for now, "A-are… are you adventurers?" She looked up and stared at them, tears in her eyes.

"Yes, we are," Darkness spoke, putting on a face of stoicism at least for now. "How did end up so far down here?"

"I-I was kidnapped and brought here, then I ran when I saw the zombies. I-I just want to go home, I want to see mama and papa." She tucked her head back between her knees.

"Don't worry little girl, we'll get you out of here," Darkness began to step forward.

"Don't go anywhere near here!" He made sure that she stopped in her tracks.

"A-Aurdel-?!"

"That's no little girl. Think about it, how was she able to see us when we are entirely invisible? Not to mention, our scents and the sounds of our footsteps are essentially non-existent. There was no way for it to find where we are." He didn't need to see them to know they turned their heads in sudden realization and understand. This was no little girl, this was a dungeon mimic.

"W-what are you talking about? I'm seven! C-can you please save me?" The voice and acting was convincing, but things hadn't added up.

"Yunyun," he heard her gulp after she figured out what he wanted her to do.

"Fireball!" She tossed a ball of fire at the little girl, erupting in a burst of flames. It let out a scream as it got fire, first one that sounded like a little girl's then one that sounded more like a pained, low roar. It's image too changed shape, becoming what looked like a massive fleshy mouth with the colors of a wall with sharp teeth.

"We need to move, that's bound to attract some of the undead." And so they did. His guess was also right, as over two dozen undead shambled their way through the dungeon and into that room they were just in. They heard the pained shouts of the injured dungeon mimic as it was torn apart by the undead. They were in relative safety for now.

"A-Aurdel, how can you stay so calm in a situation like this?" Megumin asked, curious and nervous.

"I've seen many things over the years. I don't know how many times I was stuck in a game of cat and mouse with an enemy I couldn't see, one I couldn't detect. No less were the things that I saw that the Covenant did to civilians, children. I'm sure that if I hadn't been desensitized to it all by my training and experience then they would've eventually thrown me into an asylum."

"An asylum?"

"It's not a happy place, to say the least. You never want to-" They heard something shatter and it echoed through the halls of the dungeon. Was it glass…? No, it was… Ice! "Something broke the barrier back at the entrance," the others were silent, "We need to keep moving." They passed through another set of stairs and descended down to the next lower level, floor two. This corridor was littered with skeletons and discarded weapons, not a promising sign. They tread carefully, he made sure to watch for any traps. When this was over he was going to have to talk to Chris about getting more of those Thief skills.

They walked and eventually they came across more undead, they hadn't spotted them yet. "Aqua, is there anything coming at us from behind?"  
"No, not right now. Hopefully never."

"Alright, good. Keep watch. I'll take this group of undead but keep close, the less time we spend without being completely concealed the better." They took a few steps closer to the group of undead, then he let go of them and charged the monsters. With a series of swift strikes from Gram he decapitated three of them and bisected the remaining two. But once they were dead he quickly ran back and activated Lurk again.

"Okay, let's keep moving." The path they traveled took them past what looked like prison cells, most were empty. Not all though. Near the center of the hallway there was one cell, a man was strung up with chains on the wall and just barely breathing. They didn't know if it was a dungeon mimic or not so they waited just outside the cell door for now to see if he would notice them. No response. The man looked like he'd been tortured as scars lined his bodies, like someone had dragged nails across his body. After a few more moments they finally revealed themselves.

"Hey, in the cell, are you alive?" The man slowly raised his head towards them.

"Are… are you here to finally kill me? Bored of torturing me?"

"No, we're adventurers. We'll get you out."

"Ad… adventurers? You shouldn't have come here. He'll kill you like he did the others."

"The Vampire?"

"Who else? But he's no normal Vampire, he told me as much when he killed the rest of my crew. He is one of those cheat users."

A cheat user? That meant he was from Aurdel's own world. Why would someone from his world be a Vampire. "Tell us what it is, anything that you can do be can kill him."

"His… his ability is to stop-!" The man was cut off, as his chest violently exploded.

**...The World…**

They all stared in horror as the man they'd just been speaking to died, it was like someone had punched straight through him. "It's useless, I told him that if he tried exposing my power that he would be killed. But he didn't listen," the voice came from down the hallway. It was the Vampire. If he knew they were there then there was no point in trying to conceal them. Aurdel openly drew Gram, Darkness her sword, Aqua her staff and Yunyun a concealed wand she'd been carrying. "But he wasn't wrong, though I doubt you'll all live long enough to figure out what my ability is. Zombies, kill them!" The doors of what they thought were previously empty cells swung open as undead corpses rose from the ground, bursting through.

"Lightning!" Yunyun cast a bolt of lightning from her wand, Aurdel intercepted it with his sword and arc'd it to the closest undead on his side.

"Sacred Turn Undead!" Aqua cast one of her purifying spells at the Undead on her side, vaporizing then.

"H-how are we supposed to defeat a cheat user?!" Megumin stuttered. "Especially one that's a vampire!"

"Nothing is invincible, you just need to know what you're going up against. Aqua, do you know which cheat user he's talking about and what power they have?"

"I don't have any idea, there are too many cheats that involve stopping something! Sacred Turn Undead! And there isn't anything that turns them into a vampire either." She purified another group of undead that came to her.

"That isn't good, we're effectively running blind here. We need to find out what his power is or we'll just end up like those other adventurers," he decapitated another two undead.

"But we can't let him hide and assault us like this either!" He took the shield off of his side and held it in his arm, "We need to follow him!" Aurdel charged down the hallway and physically plowed through the undead, the others chasing after him. The amount of monsters there were was innumerable, but they pushed through and descended further down into the dungeon by another level. But the next room they entered after that was like any of the others they'd gone into. Instead, this room was a large wide open space with tall stone pillars dotting the inside.

"What kind of dungeon is this?" Darkness asked. They all looked around.

Then suddenly, the room lit up. All over the room torches became ablaze and illuminated the entire area. Something that was only revealed to them now was the presence of stadium-like seating surrounding the room they were in, every row was filled with some form of undead monster. The doors slammed hard shut behind them. "Good, I thought you would never make it." They turned, they could see the face behind the voice now. The Vampire was a tall man, at least around six foot six, with blonde hair and red eyes, not to mention extremely well built. One could easily assume he was a bodybuilder. Then again, how many bodybuilders are vampires?

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this, to fight someone from the other world." He pulled out a knife and licked it slowly, as if savoring it. "And by the looks of it, you're rather strong if not extremely powerful. I have to thank you Aqua for bringing me such a worthy opponent."

"Oh, I remember this guy! He's a total geek, he liked this series called Jojo. He dyed his hair so he could look like one of its characters, and it looks like he even became a Vampire just so he could be closer to him." The Vampires stark confidence was suddenly shattered as Aqua began revealing essentially everything about the man,"That's why he picked the ability to stop-" Aqua was suddenly sent flying back into one of the pillars, crashing headfirst.

The Vampire was much closer now. How had he moved without Aurdel noticing?! He'd been training his eyes on him the whole time. "Shut up you blue bitch!" The Vampire was angry, but collected himself again. "Then again, even if you are strong it'll be useless to fight me. Useless! Because compared to me, DIO, you're all just monkeys!"

"What kind of character is named God?" Aurdel asked, with some confusion but still making sure to stay on his toes.

"Not God, DIO! DIO from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure!" If it wasn't for his helmet, Aurdel would have scratched his head.

"What year did you die in?"

"Twenty twenty one." ...Yes, that'd do it.

"Well I did in twenty five fifty two. Whatever you're talking about doesn't exist anymore."

"Doesn't exist?! How?!" All composure was lost again, this time replaced with astonishment.

"It's been over five hundred years, the world has moved on from whatever you're talking about."

"That's…. This is impossible!" He shouted, "Then everything I've worked towards has been for nothing! There's no one that will understand what I'm referencing! Then it doesn't matter anymore, I'll kill you and then I'll take over this world!"

"Yunyun, stay with Megumin! Darkness you're with me!" The two of them charged forwards with their swords towards the Vampire.

"It's useless!" The moment they came close he disappeared from sight, "Die!" He struck Darkness hard and ragdolled her into another of the pillars.

Damnit, they were going to be slaughtered this guy! "Fireball!" Yunyun threw a larger than usual ball of fire in the direction of the Vampire, but when it came close he was suddenly at its side rather than being directly impacted by it. It harmlessly flew past him and smashed into the wall. It was almost as if he was teleporting instantaneously to avoid any attack, but that didn't make any sense. Aqua and the man earlier that'd died said his ability was to stop something, but what? To stop any attack from hitting him? That wouldn't explain how he could adeptly dodge everything.

"Man in the green armor, I don't need to see your face to know the fear you're experiencing."

He grit his teeth, he had to put on an act at least. "Fear? I would know what that meant even if you spelled it out for me."

"Then come, try and strike me down!" He had no other choice except to oblige, so he ran at him with Gram. But the moment he came near the Vampire disappeared and Aurdel felt a swift and strong blow hit his back,, "Damn, your armor is strong." So not only was he able to avoid attacks instantaneously, but he was also able to attack instantaneously? He really needed to find out exactly what Vampire's power was. "I'll go after the blonde Crusader instead, she should make for a fine slave."

He saw Darkness stand up, but now that she heard that he planned to make a slave out of her the fear she'd felt was gone and replaced sudden perverted interest. "Come at me if you dare you foul Vampire, I'll show you the true strength of a Crusader of Eris!"

Darkness charged the Vampire with her sword and before he knew it, she was already in his hands. "Such… Such strong beastly hands! Grasping my throat with such intensity, as if you're ready to choke me with one and strip me with the other!"

"Are… are you enjoying this?" This situation gave Aurdel a little more time to think, how could he figure out his power?

"O-of course not! I'm a Crusader, I would never give in to a vile, monstrous, primal Vampire like yourself!~" If he wasn't teleporting, could he just be moving really fast?

"You're giving me mixed signals, a slave isn't supposed to enjoy their duty." If so, he just needed to track his movement to confirm it. And that would be easy enough.

"I-I'm not enjoying it!~"

Enough, "Create Water!" He sprayed a large amount of water at the Vampires, who stayed still.

"Fool, you think water is going to harm me? Water may be the weakness of normal undead, but not to a Vampire like me!" He threw Darkness to the side instead of opting to feed her perverted desires, now he began to charge Aurdel.

He was sorry that he had to do this, but he had to temporarily sacrifice one of his party members to figure this out. "Megumin! Use your Explosion spell!"

"Explosion?! Down here?! That'll-"

"Just do it!"

"Are you insane?!" The Vampire shouted, he turned his attention to Megumin.

"Explo-!" Megumin was suddenly cut off and sent flying, Yunyun shrieked as the Vampire was now in extremely close range to her. But this had given him all he needed. He looked at the floor in the direction of where the Vampire had gone, it was covered with water. So he really hadn't teleported, he still had to move normally like anyone else!

"Earth Shaker!" Yunyun cast off a spell reflexively so she'd be able to get away from the Vampire. The entire room shook as what felt like an earthquake hit the dungeon, Yunyun scrambled away from the Vampire. Chunks of rock fell from the ceiling and pillars around him came crashing down.

"Your power, it's to stop time! You're using it to stop time and avoid all our attacks, then moving in closer to attack us!"

"Hmm… I never thought you'd figure it out. It won't do you any good though, you'll die long before you have a chance at killing me."

He had a relative plan now, he just needed to corner the Vampire. "Yunyun! I need a wave of fire!" Aurdel threw the end of his scarf that was still wrapped around his neck and along one of the walls of the dungeon.

"Fool! Fire won't kill me!'

"Inferno!" A huge wave of fire shot out from Yunyun, and in the way they were positioned the only way the Vampire had to move to avoid being hit by it was backing towards one of the walls of the dungeon. Suddenly the Vampire appeared next to the wall. Next to the scarf.

"Drain Touch!" Aurdel still had one hand on the scarf. But he wasn't trying to take mana from the vampire. No, he was giving mana to him.

"Wryyyyyy!" The Vampire shrieked as the holy mana that he had stored in the mana battery flew outwards from the scarf and was absorbed into it. The Vampire fell to the floor, glowing from the energy but slightly fading.

"Stop him from moving! Create Water! Freeze!" Aurdel doused him in water again, but this time he froze it. His arms were frozen to the ground.

"Ankle Snare! Freeze Bind!" Yunyun stopped his legs from moving, then encased all of his body minus his head in another layer of ice.

"No! This is impossible! I can't lose!" He quite obviously tried to thrash around, but he couldn't break free.

Aurdel ran up to him and placed a hand on the Vampire's head, making sure the scarf and battery wouldn't activate this time. "Drain Touch!" The Vampire shouted as Aurdel began sucking all of the mana out of him. He continued violently thrashing around, even stopping time a few times visible by sudden movements of his head. But they slowed and eventually the Vampire was near death and Aurdel felt almost hyper with the amount of mana taken in. Then he put his hand back on the scarf. "Drain Touch!" Now he wrapped the scarf around the Vampire's neck in a tight grip, then sent holy mana flowing through it again. The Vampire faded, then disappeared from existence.

The dungeon continued shaking as rocks and pillars fell. "Yunyun, grab Megumin and run above ground! I'll get the others!" Yunyun nodded and ran off, Aurdel ran off towards where Darkness lay on the ground. "Darkness, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but I think we need to get out of here."

"Agreed," he picked her up and began to run with her. He lept over rubble, "Are you able to walk?"

"I should be able to, but…" She seemed to drone off for a moment, "Wait, where's Aqua?" That's right, where was she?!

"Damn, I think she still out cold!" He put her down, "Get above ground, I'll get her!" He ran back down the stairs he started going up and left Darkness to run away.

When he came back to the arena like room he found Aqua lodged under a fallen pillar, "You may be a good for nothing Goddess but I'm not going to let you die here." He put both his hands on the bottom of the pillar and lifted it up, it easily weighed at least a ton. Straining a little, he threw it up and off to the side where it crashed and crushed another pillar. Then he picked Aqua up and clutched her close to him as he ran. He ducked under a fallen column, the arena room collapsed as he made it to the stairs and began running up. Rocks tumbled down the steps, so he had to dodge and weave as they came down.

Undead stood scattered and tried to assault him as he ran, but he just charged through them. "Ehhhh?! Aurdel, what's going on?! Why are you carrying me?!" Aqua finally woke up as he kept running, they were on the second level now.

"Because we're escaping, this dungeon is collapsing."

"I knew you wouldn't be able to do anything right without me! I shouldn't have let you lead this party!"

"Oh be quiet and let me focus on saving you." He shoulder checked an undead with a battleaxe, stopping it from hitting him and Aqua as they ran. They ran past the cells where the prisoner had been, it was a shame that they weren't able to save him but there was nothing they could do.

He ran past the room where they'd encountered the dungeon mimic, the entrance was essentially within sight now. A swarm of undead covered the entrance, "Aqua!"

"Sacred Turn Undead!" She vaporized the undead easily. The ice barrier they'd left behind had indeed shattered completely, there was nothing left of it.

"Come on you two!" Darkness shouted, the other three were already waiting outside. Even from here he could see that the fog had completely cleared. He sprinted for the entrance as fast as he could, the dungeon was collapsing behind him as he ran.

A large rock he hadn't noticed before lay on the ground and he ran straight into it, tripping and sending Aqua flying out of his arms and out the entrance. He only was partially out when it collapsed. "Fuck!" A huge rock fell on top of his left foot, completely crushing it and part of his leg. The others came running over to help him, and they lifted the rock off of him.

"Heal!" With Aqua's spell, his foot and leg felt as good as new.

"Well, we did it," Darkness said.

"I feel like the only thing we accomplished here was get our collective asses kicked, it'll be too soon if I have to see a dungeon again. Aqua, how good are these hot springs?"

"Oh they're really good! You'll just have to wait and see when we get there!" And so the five of them walked off back towards the caravan. Really, he just hoped there wasn't any trouble when they got to Alcanretia


	17. Chapter 17

**...City of Water...**

When they got back to the caravan they helped bury the dead, Aqua giving them their rights and allowing them to pass onto the next world while also healing and resurrecting those that she was still able to. In the end despite everything that had happened that night they managed to sleep well, Aurdel helping put Yunyun and Megumin to sleep like he had done before. The next morning they set out at the break of dawn and left the badlands they'd passed through in the dust. "Look!" Aqua shouted, poking her head out the window. They all looked out, nearly throwing the carriage off balance, to see what she was excited about. When they looked they saw that they were approaching a tunnel built into a mountain, then soon passed through.

Moments later they exited the tunnel and were greeted with a beautiful medieval cityscape, one with a prominent theme of the color blue. "Here we are, Alcanretia! City of water and hot springs!" From here, this city didn't look that bad. Even if it was the home of the Axis Cult, the supposedly crazy followers of Aqua, he could at least give it a chance. After all, you have to believe half the things you see and none of what you here. The carriages all passed under a golden archway sat atop a bridge, it really was a sight to behold. Behind the cityscape, as they came closer, Aurdel could see the mountains of stone with steam rising from them, streams of water visible from some of them. Then they passed into the city itself.

The sides of the streets were crowded with market stalls and people speaking as they went about their business. If Axel was a prime example of a fantasy setting, Alcanretia was the epitome. "I've never seen anything quite like this…" Darkness said with a tone of wonder. Yes, he supposed she hadn't. He didn't know what things she'd seen before she'd joined his party but there was no way that it'd match up to this.

"Thank you for all of the help that you've provided to caravan," the leader of the caravan bowed to them. He wanted to admit that part of the trouble they'd experienced was caused by their presence but he didn't have the guts to say it, so he let it pass. Then he gave them coupons for what was the largest hotel in the one, one that he happened to own.

Ah, no wonder he was passing through then. After that the caravan continued on its way, leaving behind Alcanretia. "Ahhh... Jarippa is leaving."

"Jarippa?"

"Is that the name you gave that baby dragon?" Aqua asked.

"Wait, since when did you take the time to name the thing that was in our carriage?"

"I did it while you're were looking out the window, it's owner asked me to help name it."

"I"ve heard that newborn dragons won't respond to any other name except the first one it's been given," Darkness said. That poor man.

"Well, shamed dragon aside, I suppose we should-"

"Welcome to Alcanretia! Are you tourists? Sightseers? Are you here to join the Axis cult? Find a job? Go on adventures? Be baptised?" They were immediately assaulted by a wave of Axis Cultists, trying to recruit them. He gave up on trying to keep an open mind with these people, they were like more aggressive Jehova's Witnesses but without subtly or humility. "We have many opening rights now to tell you all about how great the Axis Cult is! We also have some great offers for compensation if you decide to join us! If you take this job, you can have the privilege of calling yourself an Axis Cultist!" MUCH more aggressive.

Darkness, Megumin and Yunyun were all timid in the face of such behavior, but Aqua actively interacted with them. "You have such beautiful blue hair! Your eyes are absolutely brilliant too! Were you really born this way? And that hagoromo of yours is just like the one that Aqua-sama wears!"

"Okay, I'm making the executive decision to leave Aqua behind and mingle with these crazies while we go check in at the hotel."

"...I agree, I'd rather not stay around these people. They give me the creeps," Megumin said. And so, the four of them, left Aqua behind because frankly it was too much trouble to deal with, especially since it was her cult.

"Ah, welcome! We were notified of your arrival beforehand, your room is already prepared for you." At the hotel owned by the caravan leader they were greeted with a warm welcome, they carried all their things up to their room.

Aurdel set his things down, "You know, I only just realized something. I've never really been on a vacation before."

"You've never been on a vacation?" Yunyun questioned.

"No, not really. The only times I really ever went out to some place like this with Aric and Clementine were rare, I didn't get a lot of shore leave. Even then we usually only had a day or two like this."

"Shore leave…? What's that? And who are Aric and Clementine?"

"I'd like answers to those questions too, though I'm more interested in the latter one," Darkness input.

"Shore leave is essentially just time off from the Navy. And if you don't know what the Navy is, then just imagine organized warfare on the water. And as for the other question, that's something for another time."

"But why? The last time Luna asked you a question like that you got cut off and we never got an answer."

"Because the only way you're getting an answer from me on the subject is if I'm horribly drunk or drugged. So until that day comes you'll have to wait. But enough of that, we're on vacation here so why don't we at least go sightseeing?" And he walked out of the room.

* * *

"He seems to be oddly defensive when those two names are mentioned…"  
"Yes… I noticed that too…"

"Would it really be okay for us to keep pushing him on it, even when he says he doesn't want to give us an answer?"

"It wouldn't feel right to keep doing so, but my interest is definitely piqued. And I don't think I'll be able to get rid of that feeling until I get an answer from him about it."

"I'm the same way, but it feels wrong considering he's a member of our party."

"Maybe we should just give him time, he'll open up when he feels ready to."

"I suppose you're right Yunyun…"

"Are you girls coming or what?!" Aurdel shouted from afar.

"We're coming!"

* * *

"I don't exactly know where to start exploring this city," Aurdel stroked his chin with his helmet off at his side.

"We could start by looking at some of the market stalls," Darkness suggested, "Look! There's an Elf and a Dwarf!" She pointed to a pair of stalls located next to each other. The three ran over, he followed them.

"Good Morning customers! Could I interest you in some high-class Arcane buns? They're a speciality here, and these are all made with all-natural ingredients by Elves! Surely you wouldn't want to be poorly judged for making purchases at a cheap, low quality shop like that Dwarf's over there."

"Hey, watch what you say you right pointy eared twat! Your goods migh' be expensive but that means a whole lot of nothin! Look here customer, you should try me Dwarven meat buns. It's full 'a meat and tastes great, surely better than that 'ere Elf's buns."

"Are you trying to fight you short, nasty bearded, fat dwarf?"  
"I ain' tryin to be your friend if that's what you think you pretty boy elf!" They got right up in each others faces, shouting at each other and looked as if they were ready to brawl.

"What do you say customer?" Both of them looked to him, "Who are you going to buy from?"

He sighed, "I'm just going to buy from both of you so I don't have to get involved." And so he did. The others walked off eating their food, but he decided to hang around a little more. "By the way, do you two know any sights around town to see?"

"Sights? No, not really. There was the one hot spring though…"

"This is a city full of hot springs, what is better about that one hot spring? And why are you talking in the past tense?"

"He's referring to the mixed gender hot springs, the ones frequented by the young ladies," the Dwarf answered.

"Did you just completely lose your accent…?"

"Ah damnit, slipped up." The Dwarf his hands up, "We'll just tell you since you can probably already figure it out. I am a real dwarf, but the beard is fake." He pulled the beard off his chin to show him, then reapplied it. "And he is a real Elf, but his ears are fake." The Elf confirmed it, pulling off the pair of fake long ears to reveal a pair of human looking ears.

"Would disappoint people if they didn't see what they thought the real thing looked like, so we play it up for them." The Elf put the ears back on, "But eh, it's the past tense because the water isn't too good anymore. None of the water around the city is, really. Quality is dropping for some reason."

"Dropping?"

"Yep, some people even got sick with rashes after bathing. The city already hired experts to investigate but they haven't been able to find anything." Aurdel wasn't so sure about staying at this city to use the hot springs anymore…

"Hey Aurdel, are you coming?" His party members called out to him from afar, they were waiting for him to move on.

He shook his head, "I'm coming!" And he power walked over to where they were. The fact that something was wrong with this city and that there was something causing it was stuck in his mind now. Damnit, he really didn't want to have to worry about fighting some enemy especially if this was supposed to be a vacation now.

"What took you so long?" Megumin asked as he came over.

"I was just asking them if there were any good spots to visit, afraid I got nothing out of them."

"Ah, that's unfortunate. But that shouldn't matter too much, we can just keep wandering around. I'm sure we'll find a lot more places to visit if we do!"

"That, or more place to spend our money at."

"There's nothing wrong with spending a little money on pleasure sometimes, is there?"

"No but I'd rather not waste them all on tourist traps."

"Actually, I"d like it if I could bring back some souvenirs to send to my family. They've never been to Alcanretia before so I want them to see what it's like."

"Judging by the Axis Cultists nudging their way over towards us, I think it's better not to know what this place is like. I say we keep moving and stay away from these nutjobs."

"Y-yeah, the way that one is looking at me is especially discomforting." Yunyun was referring to an older man, one with a long gray beard and mustache. Megumin was averting her eyes from the figure.

"I actually don't mind being looked at like-"

"You're the last person I want to take advice from on something like that Darkness, we're moving on." And so they did, making sure to stay out of sight and reach of that group and that man in specific. That lead them to the center of the town where there stood a large fountain, a statue standing in the middle of it. Was that supposed to be… Aqua? No, whoever sculpted this had obviously gotten it wrong. The figure they made looked elegant and noble, like a Goddess one could actually pray to and depend on. The Goddess he knew was none of that and more. Just staring at it made him a little irritated for some reason.

He looked down. It looked like somebody was about to bump into him, so he moved out of the way. Somehow, they still managed to do so. He turned to his party, as if to confirm that his has just happened. Darkness and Yunyun looked just as confused as he felt, Megumin looked like she was embarrassed and had something she didn't want to admit. "Ah, my apples!" The person that bumped into them fell to the ground in what felt like him to be pathetic acting. But he might as well help them since he was there. He reached down and helped the girl pick up the apples she'd dropped. "Ah, thank you so much. How could I ever repay you?"

"Don't worry about it, it was an accident. These things-"

"I know, there's a cafe run by the Axis cult down the road! We can go there and-"

"No, you don't need to do anything. It's like I was saying, these things happen-"

"If not that, then maybe I could interest you in… Me~? I'd be willing to do that, though there are some things I'd like to-"

"Hold on, what in Gods name did you just say? Are you implying what I think you implied?" He wasn't sure how to react at all now.

"Of course I meant what I said, I would do anything for the great Goddess Aqua! The Axis Cult discriminates naught by gender, age nor species!" She grabbed his hand and tried to drag him away.  
"Get your hand off of me you creep," he tore his hand away from her.

"Please leave my friend here alone," Darkness said while pulling out an amulet, "I'm a member of the Eris Cult, and I would-" The Axis cultist turned her head and spit on the ground. Then after she took another few steps she spit again, then moved out of sight.

Okay, that's it. Just from this encounter alone he had enough resolve to burn down this city. He was just going to have to find out what was messing it up first so he could have the honor of doing it himself. "Darkness, you should put that thing away. I don't think this cult likes Eris very much so you should-" He looked at her, "Wait a second… You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"O-of course not," she turned her bright red face away from him.

"Okay, one pervert is usually enough for me. But one pervert and another city full of them? That's too much. I'm locking you back in the hotel room."

**...A Cult of Crazies...**

After forcefully locking Darkness in their hotel room, something she probably ended up enjoying anyways given who she was, they went back to roaming the streets of Axel. They were assaulted relentlessly with numerous attempts at proselytization. "If you just sign these blank Axis Cult forums, you'll be granted with an immense amount of power!" "Hey, don't you remember me? We went to school together! You probably don't recognize me because I'm in the Axis cult!" "If you join the Axis Cult, you'll be able to tell your own future!" "Are you looking for immense riches? If you join the Axis Cult, you'll find just that!" Spartans were patient, but this one was being tested severely.

"I swear that if I hear one more person try to recruit me, I'm going to-"

"Hello there sir, could I interest you in some flowers? They're the pride of the Axis-" He dealt the man a hard right hook and sent him flying down the sidewalk, the basket crashed to the ground and flower bouquets filled with Axis Cult registration forms flew and fell apart. Stares came at him from all around after seeing what he'd done.

"Right, we're going to probably the one place with sane people around here. The guild," and he stormed off in search of it. And find it he did, pushing the doors open.

"We've told you already, the Adventurers Guild of Alcanretia does not need a sponsorship from the Axis Cult. So you can get out and-" the voice stopped, "Wait, no. Those are just some new faces. Welcome. I apologize for my words, but the cultists here are quite aggressive in their campaigning."

"I know, I saw it first hand." He took in a deep breath, then exhaled. "Alright. Megumin, Yunyun, go look at their quest board while we're here. We might as well do something."

"Why do we have to do quests? This is supposed to be a vacation."

"It's doing a quest or spending all day in this city with them constantly asking us to join their cult." With that reasoning they willingly walked over to the quest board

He on the other hand was going to do something to take his mind off of all of this. He walked over to the guild bar, "Wine, give me the full bottle. I'll pour it out for myself." The bartender pulled a bottle off the shelf, then put it on the counter alongside two glasses. Aurdel popped the cork off the bottle and poured out a glass. He took a sip, then he winged at the bitter taste. Well it wasn't the worst thing he'd tasted. He finished the glass and poured out another, he was going to have to drink the full bottle anyways since it's what he was paying for.

"A little bit early for drinking, don't you think?" A woman's voice said next to him. He turned, the woman was one with white hair, a tail and fox ears. He'd seen people similar to that before, though the only one that came to mind was the sole woman in Dust's party that he'd seen occasionally.

"After seeing what the people are like here? It's probably never too early."

"I suppose you're right," she sat down on the stool next to where he stood, "But I wanted to ask you something. You're not like other adventurers, are you?"

"I don't know how you figured that out. Was it the big sword, the armor or my insane height compared to every other person here?"

"A combination of things, but those certainly did help." Aurdel drank his glass, then he poured out another for himself and one for the woman. "The name is Anatalia, and I was hoping that you might take a chance on me."

"I'm not looking for a woman in my life."

"I didn't mean it like that," she took a sip of the wine and had a similar reaction to what he'd experienced, but she kept drinking. "God knows I've had enough of men hitting on me while I'm here. I meant that if you're actively looking for other adventurers I would like to join your party."

"I would've assumed someone like you would be in a party already." The woman was young, beautiful and probably considered exotic for her additional features, so it's hard to imagine that no one would try snatching her up as a member yet.

"You might say that I'm in a little spot of trouble, and because of that no one is willing to take me on."

"What kind of trouble?" He took a sip from his glass and raised an eyebrow

"The kind that has you run out of your home country, where the government has placed a multi million bounty on my head for trying to rob a noble's treasury."

"So you're a thief."

"That's the part you got all hung up on?"

"Not so much hung up on, but I'm not exactly shocked with the rest either. After all, I'm in a party with a walking bomb, an over-enthusiastic S&M fetishist and a wet carpet. You can try and shock me."

"Hmph, with descriptions like those I suppose you wouldn't. But you can imagine why I'm avoided, aside from the occasional man hitting on me." She pulled out a dagger and turned around, pointing it at the throat of a man who'd been creeping up on her. He raised his hands and slowly backed away, "Case and point."

"Avoided for good reason, though."

"Listen," she put away the dagger, then rested her arm and head on counter and looked up at him. "I don't have a lot of options and I'd rather not be stuck in this town full of cultists for the rest of my life, I'm a believer in Jadwiga myself and the way these people act are sickening. Look, right there their head Archpriest in this city is peeking in to try and get a glance at some people." She pointed idly towards one of the windows against a far wall, he saw the face of the bearded man from earlier in fact looking in. Somewhere else in the guild an Archer notched an arrow and fired it in his direction, the man disappeared after that. "So what do you say? Even if I have to be the party maid it'd be much better than staying here."

He pondered the thought. If this woman was even the least bit competent it'd bring up the capabilities of his party substantially. If she wasn't, he'd just be left with another mouth to feed.

He'd take the risk this time, "Alright, You're in." They shook hands, "I'm Aurdel, those two are Yunyun and Megumin." He pointed towards the two who were still looking at the quest board, "There are two others besides them but we can get to them later."

"Those names, they must be Crimson Demons. But which one is Yunyun and which one is Megumin? Is Megumin the one with a chest as flat as a cutting board?"

Aurdel saw Megumin twitch and look over, "Darkness blacker than black, darker than-"

"Sleep!" Yunyun cast a spell on Megumin and she collapsed to the floor, unable to finish her chant.

"You know, I feel like that spell would be really useful to have."

* * *

After formally introducing them, Yunyun took Anatalia and Megumin back to the hotel they were staying staying. He, meanwhile, was going out to look for Aqua. He wandered out in the streets and pondered. If he was a stuck up blue haired Goddess who was currently in the main city of her religion, where would he be…? The largest and most expensive looking church in town of course. He looked around and he found it eventually, a cathedral-esque structure. He pushed the door open, "Ah, welcome," a blonde woman in priestly clothing greeted him by the entrance. "Are you here as a pilgrim seeking salvation? Or are you a possible convert? Or maybe you are here for… me?" Legitimately, he was going to burn this city down.

"I'm looking for a blue haired Archpriest, have you seen her around here?"

"If you're looking for her you'll find her in there," she pointed towards a small wooden booth off to the side. It looked like a type of confession box. ...Seriously? He walked over towards it and heard quiet and gentle breathing from inside, she was definitely there. He pulled the door open and stepped inside the box.

"Welcome, child. This place is a sacred one, one without judgement and without punishment. Here you may confess your sins freely and have them wiped away by the Goddess Aqua."

"Aqua, it's me. Get out of this thing so we can go back to the hotel."

"If you are here not to confess your sins then it is best you leave now, lest you receive divine punishment." He wasn't going to get her out of here like this, he thought for a moment.

"Actually there are a few things I'd like to get off my chest."

"Oh? Does it perhaps involve a beautiful blue haired Archpriest in your party? One that suffers abuse despite her great contributions?"

"Beautiful and great contribution? Not so much, but she is the one this is about."

He could tell she was already ticked off by that, but she was trying to hide it. "Then child, please state your sins so that they might be wiped away."

"Well, this is the first thing. I took all of her wine without her knowing, then had it given as an offering to the Goddess Eris. But I felt bad so I had it all replaced with cheap booze and she didn't know the difference." He heard a grip on a wood tighten from behind the screen Aqua was hiding behind. "I was also considering allowing an undead to stay in my house permanently if they needed it, since their home was destroyed. I would've give them the Archpriest's room," a tighter grip. "I also put up a posting for an Eris sect Priest-" Wood shattered.

"Suffer holy retribution you apostate!" Aqua flung open the screen and tried to hit Aurdel, but he was quicker on the draw and hit her square in the face. She was sent spiraling back and out of the confession box.

"Ah?! Are you alright Archpriest-sama?!" He heard the blonde Priest run over to the now unconscious Aqua, "What happened?"

"She said she was having a vision of the Goddess Aqua, then she was sent flying backwards."

The was a massive welt on Aqua's face and her nose was bleeding. "I see, our Goddess works in mysterious but beautiful ways. Please take care of her."

"Don't worry, I couldn't not do that even if I wanted to." He picked Aqua up and lifted her up over his shoulder and carried her out of the church. By the time he had dusk was starting to break, most of the day had gone by already. When he got back the others were already having dinner.

"Oh you're back, we were just acquainting ourselves."

Yunyun looked at him, "What happened to Aqua?"

"The correct thing," he set her down on the couch. He looked at the meal on the table, "Is this really all covered by the coupons…?"

"No, we just ordered extra," Megumin said with a drumstick in hand. She and Anatalia had shoveled a mountain of food onto their plates.

Hmph, "I suppose it's a good thing credit cards haven't been invented yet here, or else we'd be dead broke."

"What's a credit card?"

"I'd rather you not know so nobody ever hears it from you and makes one." He picked up a plate and began to eat, "Anyways I would've suggested going to one of the springs after all the sightseeing today but I'm not so sure."

"Why's that?"

"Those shopkeepers I spoke with told me something was going on with them, quality was decreasing and people were getting sick from going into them."

"Maybe Aqua could-" Darkness looked to our still unconscious Goddess, "Ah, right."

"We can still go to them, the bath here specifically, I'd just be a little cautious about it." He put down his plate, having finished, "I'm going down now, but make sure that when you do you'll tell me if you hear or see anything weird."

**...Raising Suspicion...**

Aurdel walked down to where the baths were, there were three doors. From left to right it was the men's bath, mixed bath and then the women's bath. He decided to go with the men's bath since that just made sense. He walked up to the door, put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. It popped off. "Wha-" He did a double take on what just happened. Had he been too forceful and just pulled it off? No, he hadn't. Taking a closer look he could tell that the doorknob had barely been attached to the door at all, as if they expected no one to use it. Okay then, if he couldn't open it the normal way he'd just have to force it open. He wedged his fingers into the edge of the door, then tried to prop it open. The door popped off its hinges.

With the door off of the wall he could now see that there was no men's bath at all, it was quite literally just a fake door. He… he didn't know how to take that. Befuddled he propped the door back up on the wall and forced the doorknob back on. If he couldn't go to the men's bath he'd just go into the mixed section. He opened the other door and stepped through, this time the bath was real. The bath gave off an immense amount of steam and covered the area with an almost light mist but he could still tell there were two other people in here anyways. Enemy Detection told him that, but there was something odd about it. For some reason the two people here seemed to be extremely strong. He was on his guard now.

"You look relaxed," the man said.

"And you look tense," the woman said back. There was another odd thing, specifically about the woman. The way she looked was reminiscent of that of the Succubi from the shop in Axel, this only made him more suspicious of who they were and what they were up to.

"It's just that this damn town… It's getting to me," the man clenched his fist, "It's always conversion this and proselytize that, I can't take. This place might as well be filled with Demons."

"And so…?" Aurdel made sure to make it look like he wasn't listening in on them, picking up some things off to the side as if he was only getting ready to get into the bath.

"And so I'll do something about it, I have to make a move!" His fist clenched even tighter.

"You should be more quiet, be too loud and you'll get caught. When that happens, everything will have been for nothing." She sighed, "Look, there's even a person over there. Do you think he heard you?" He felt both their eyes move to him.

"I'm not sure."

"Hey," the woman called out to him, but he ignored it at first. He wanted to make sure they assumed he hadn't heard them talking. "Hey!" She said it louder this time, "You're supposed to take off any clothes or armor before you get into the bath."

He turned his head, his helmet still on, "I can't take off this armor."

"Oh… Then I suppose that's different," they turned away. "I don't think he heard us, but you have to be more careful."

She stood up, "But if you're going to do something I'll make sure to get out before then, you don't exactly leave a lot standing in your way." Covering herself up with a towel she began to walk away, "Besides, I need to tell them how you're doing." She left, leaving only him and the other man. Aurdel then walked over towards the bath and stepped in, sitting down low in the water so it at least made it to his shoulders. It was an awkward position given his height but it's not something he wasn't used to. The suit stopped him from feeling the water anyways so he wasn't exactly desperate to enjoy the bath. But it was at least a little calming to listen to the running of the water and sit in the steam.

Voices were heard from the bath over, "Megumin! You're not supposed to swim in the baths!" It was Darkness lecturing Megumin who'd jumped in and made a splash in the bath.

"Lighten up, with what we do we're free to enjoy things as we please." He heard her swim around for a little bit, "...But seeing you all like this does make me a little angry."

"You're young, you have room to grow," that was Anatalia.

"Darkness blacker than black-"

"Silence!" As before, Yunyun had to stop Megumin from doing something stupid. There was an awkward silence after that. Aurdel took off his helmet and laid his head back.

"Do you think he's in the mixed baths?" Darkness asked.

"Why, do you plan to make a passionate love confession or something of the like?" Anatalia teased.

"O-of course not! It was just that thinking about it made me wonder what he looks like without his armor."

"What kind of line of thought is that?" Megumin asked, "And besides, he can't take it off. Or… at least he says he can't take it off, I don't know if that's true." It was true, if it wasn't he wouldn't be sitting in the water with it on.

"I don't know, maybe he's just putting on this heroic and stoic facade. Then once he removes the fierce and strong exterior he'll be nothing more than a fat, abusive old man, one who'd put me in my place and force me to do crazy things. Just the thought of the possibility excites me~." He looked at the fence with disbelief, there was another awkward silence on the other side.

"That's… that's really rude, you know.." Yunyun said relatively quietly, "And I'm sure he's nothing like that."

"How would you know? You haven't been with us very long," Megumin pointed out.

"Maybe not, not-"

"Wait a minute… You're blushing! Yunyun, why are you blushing?!"

"I-I'm not!"

"Yes you are! Don't you dare hide your face!" He heard them struggle in the water, "You barely know him so don't tell me that you love him!"

"H-he's the only one that's nice to me!"

"That doesn't mean you have to love him!"

Aurdel shook his head, he didn't know what to make of this. "You two should stop fighting, Aqua isn't awake to heal you if you injure each other." But he heard them continue to grapple with each other." He watched as the other man finally left the baths, taking his clothes as he left and avoiding all of the 'holy' items being presented by Axis cultists. From what he'd heard and what he'd assumed, that man had to be followed.

He stood up from the bath and walked over towards the fence, "D-don't get Kuro involved in this!"

"Her name is Chomusuke and she'll help me win any battle!"

"Nyow!" He heard the cat as it sounded like it was placed in the middle of their fight, unfortunately for it.

The fence separating the two sections wasn't too tall, so he should be able to stand up tall and look over, "Stop pulling, or else-!"

He stood up and looked over, "Guys, I-"

"NYOW!" The cat somehow ended up in the air and flying in his general direction, going over the fence and straight into his face. It's claws just barely missed his eyes as it grappled to try and get a steady hold on his head.

All of the others looked over towards him, "A-Aurdel?! What are you doing?!" They covered up their bodies with towels.

"I could care less about how you look, especially given I almost just had my vision taken away from me." He pried Chomusuke off of his face, "Look, the guy that was here before that just left is up to something. It's something against the town and he was working with a woman that looked like a Devil to me."

"But we just got in!"

"Then just get out," he walked away from the fence and heard them grumbling, "And be quick about it! We don't want to lose track of him!"

Taking his helmet he walked over and grabbed a towel, stuffing it inside. Then, after attaching the helmet to his hip with the open side up, he put Chomusuke inside the helmet. The cat curled up to try and take a nap. After that he left the bath, going back to their room to grab all their gear as he waited for them. He used Enemy Detection from time to time to make sure that he could keep track of the man. Eventually they came out, still wet but dressed with Aqua on Darkness' back. He handed out their gear. They came in all close together, "Alright, Lurk!" He used his skill to mask their sounds and scents, "Yunyun?"  
"Light of Reflection!" Her spell made them completely invisible.

They left the hotel and wandered the streets of Alcanretia, tailing the man as he made several stops across the town. They made sure to keep a distance so that if he had a way of picking up their presence even with their countermeasures that they'd be able to get away safely. But they didn't stay in town for the whole time, they were eventually led to its outer limits and towards a mountain. Atop the mountain was a large cathedral like building, and along the path towards the top was a gate and a wall prohibiting entry with two guards standing by it. Somehow the man had passed through, they had to do the same. They uncloaked around the corner, then rounded it and stepped forward to meet with the guards.

"Halt! State your business here."

"We're investigating a possible threat to the town, we must pass through."

"I'm afraid we can't allow that, the overseer of the source told us not to let anyone else through." The source…? Of course, the source of the hot springs! It'd be a lot easier to poison the source than to poison each one individually. If the guards wouldn't let them in then they have to-

Darkness stepped forward, "As a member of house Dustiness, I require you to allow us passage to the source," she pulled out a pendant with one hand and held it out.

"House Dustiness-?!" The two guards looked and sounded extremely apologetic. They opened the gate and let them through.

"I'm sorry I'm didn't let you all know sooner, but I didn't want you to treat me differently just because I'm a noble."

"We wouldn't have treated you differently Darkness, though I do feel like it would've been better to know sooner. But now we have to sneak again, Lurk!"

"Light of Reflection!" They shrouded themselves and proceeded up the path. When they came about to the top they saw the source of the water, with the man they'd been following crouched over next to it. Using his helmet he got a better look and saw that he was sticking his arm in and that the water he touched was turning black. He was right, the main source of the springs was being poisoned.

"Yunyun," he whispered, "Once we get him away from the water you'll freeze him, then open Bottomless Swamp and we'll push him in,"

"Okay, got it."

"We just need to distract him somehow…" He thought, how could he do that? Then he had an idea. He pulled out one of the magazines he used for his hand cannon and took out two of the steel balls. He took the first one and threw it into the grass near the man, it landed quietly and without noise. Then he took the second ball and arc'd it, making sure that it struck the first and made a loud clang. When it did the man turned around.

"Who's there?" He looked around wildly, standing up and turning away from the lake. He took a few steps away searching for the noise's origin. Aurdel nodded, Yunyun sprang forward.

"Crystal Prison!" The man was caught with an expression of shock when he was frozen completely solid by her.

"Good work, now we get rid of him."

"Okay! Bottomless Swamp!" The purple hole in the ground opened up. Aurdel broke the parts of the ice and pushed the block with the man inside towards it. He didn't know who this guy was, but he knew for sure that getting rid of him would be for the best.

He kicked the block and it popped off the edge and into the hole. It bobbed for a moment, then sunk completely out of sight. The hole then suddenly disappeared and Yunyun collapsed. "Yunyun, are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine, but I'm out of magic." So he walked over and picked her up, placing her in his back. Doing so got a grumble from Megumin but she had no right to complain given how much of a help she'd been.

"Don't worry, you did a good job. But now we need to figure out what to do about the water, Darkness?"

She looked over her shoulder, "Aqua is still out."

"Still?" Maybe he'd hit her too hard… still, what could they do now? Then he remembered something, "Hey, Aqua just being in liquids can purify them right?"

"Yes, that is the case. But why-?" Megumin asked before watching as he took Aqua off Darkness' back with one hand and tossed her into the source. "Oh…"

"We can check on her in the morning, it should be done by then."

"So… what now?" Anatalia asked.

"You guys can finish your bath when you get back, I'm going to take a nap."

* * *

Aqua burst in through the hotel room door soaking wet, "What the hell happened to me?!" They all looked up from their breakfast.

"Oh, you're back."

"Don't 'you're back' me! What happened?!" They looked at each other, it was probably easier for them to lie to her than telling the truth. "Well?!"

"You got drunk and said you wanted to swim in the source of the hot spring, you said that it'd be 'Good for your followers to have water truly blessed by Aqua-sama.'"

"There is no way I said that!" She pouted. "I never said that, right guys?!" She looked to the others, they offered her no comfort and were fine with not telling her the truth. She threw a tantrum on the floor.

After that they didn't stay for very long. As it turns out, Aqua being in the water didn't only purify it. It had also turned it all into regular hot water. So the whole point of coming to the hot springs was ruined, they'd effectively ruined the economy of this city. As a result Aqua had accumulated an angry mob chasing after her once people had found out that she was the one responsible for doing so. Because of that they didn't take the carriage back, instead Yunyun teleported them back to Axel though only with the help of the mana battery he'd made.

When they got home they all went to do different things. Aqua cried in the corner, Megumin groomed Chomusuke, Yunyun went over some mail, Anatalia got adjusted to the mansion, Darkness… he really didn't know what Darkness was doing... and Aurdel just decided to sleep in. Maybe he would've enjoyed the trip a little more if it hadn't been for that dungeon, or if he'd actually been able to use the hot springs and take off his armor. That didn't matter now though, it was just a thought for the future.


	18. Chapter 18

**...No Mercy for Thieves...**

There was a knock at Aurdel's door, "Come in," he said. The door opened and Wiz stepped through. She was carrying a tray.

"I made you some tea and something to eat, you didn't come down for breakfast or lunch," she walked towards the desk he was working at.

"You didn't have to do that for me. And sorry, I was busy so I didn't want to come down."

She set the tray down, "What were you working on?"

"This," he gestured towards large sheet of paper that sat on top of the desk.

"It's a… drawing?"

"Not just any drawing, a blueprint." He erased a small mistake he'd made, redoing the section correctly this time. "You know what that means, right?"

"I'm afraid not," she gave a smile as if she felt sorry for not knowing.

"A blueprint is essentially a sketch of a planned product, done beforehand it can be used as a model for when the product is actually made."

"That makes sense, but then what is this sketch supposed to be of?"

"This is an internal combustion engine, nothing you'd ." Effectively, Aurdel had a master's degree education in most fields. The same could be said for the other Spartan given that they'd all gone through the same training. Some might call it overboard, but to them it was necessary to know all they could to function as an effective fighting force.

"You're right, I don't. But what is it supposed to do?"

"Well, where I'm from we don't use horses or carriages to go places, we use cars. And to get them to run properly they all need one of these."

"Are you sketching it because you're planning to make one of those cars here?"

"That I am. Before I do make it I have to make sure I know what I need, along with how I'll be using it. After that it's all a matter of collecting the resources and-"

"Eh?! How is your level so high?!" He heard Megumin shout a few rooms over. What was she on about this time? He decided to investigate. After quickly drinking the tea and the food Wiz had brought him he left his room.

He found Megumin and Yunyun standing in the living room, the latter triumphantly and the former dejectedly. "What's going on?" He asked.

Yunyun turned to face him excitedly, "Aurdel! I won!"

"That's great Yunyun, but won at what?"

"I finally beat Megumin in a duel! I challenged her to see which one of us had a higher level, and I had the higher level!" It was hard to ignore the happiness she was displaying, she didn't look this happy that often. Megumin on the other hand looked like someone who had their worldview completely shattered before their very eyes and was going through a crisis of conscience.

"I… I lost," she stared at the floor with a blank expression.

"Why don't you go relax then? I'm sure you put in a lot of work towards levelling up, so you should reward yourself."

"I will!" And she ran off, probably to go into town to do something.

"Shouldn't someone go with her?" Darkness asked.

"No, I trust her enough not to do anything stupid." He thought for a moment, "Megumin, how high was her level?"

"...She was twelve levels higher than me."

"Twelve? How could she have risen that high? Weren't you two supposed to be around the same level?"

"We were right before the trip, I don't know how she could've risen so fast."

"The only thing recently that she killed was that man poisoning the water at Alcanretia… Who was he?"

"I'm not sure, but I still feel angry about all of this. Aurdel, I want to go and use Explosion on something. Let's go now." Megumin gripped her staff tightly, she really wasn't happy about this. Did she really care about winning that much?

"If you insist. Anatalia, come with us. You might as well familiarize yourself with the surrounding area if you're going to be with us."

She bounced up from where she was sitting on the couch, "Sure thing, I want to see what kind of monsters there are in the area anyways."

"Do be careful," Wiz said, "Some of the monsters have gone into hiding again."

"The last time that happened was when Beldia was nearby, could there be another General or someone else strong enough to justify that?"

"I wouldn't know, I don't stay updated with everything the Demon King does."

"By the way Wiz, what's the progress on them rebuilding your shop? I don't mean for it to sound like I'm trying to kick you out, but-"

"No, it's fine. They're working on it but I haven't checked on it recently. Could you check on it for me since you'll be passing through town?"

"Sure, it'll be no problem. Alright you two, come on." He motioned for them to follow him, "And Darkness, make sure Aqua doesn't do anything to Wiz."

"Why do I have to be babysat?! I'm a Goddess!" She looked up from the painting she was making using watercolors and pouted.

"I've never heard of any Archrpriest calling themself a Goddess before," Anatalia said, "She must have some serious self worth issues to call herself one."

"T-that's really rude!" Aqua cried.

* * *

"Well, it certainly looks better than you left it."

"Shut up." Megumin punched his shoulder in response, but only ended up hurting her hand instead. "I'm telling you, it wasn't my fault. I really did see a baby dragon."

"Believe me if that's all it took to avoid taking the blame for something there wouldn't be an issue with people being falsely imprisoned."

"Agreed, justice isn't perfect."

"Anatalia you're a thief, one with with a considerably high bounty for committing a legitimate crime."

"I can still have an opinion, can't I?"

The place where Wiz's shop had been was previously a large crater, one left as a result of Megumin's Explosion spell. But now the area had been cleared and level with the rest of the town, the roads laid down once more and the foundations of the buildings set. The frames of the buildings being rebuilt were also in place though they were nowhere near being in the state they'd been in before they were destroyed. But now, since they'd checked on the progress, they could go out of town and let Megumin use Explosion, though in a place that wouldn't result in him paying millions in restitution. "Well, we should get going. If we don't leave now then it'll probably be dark by the time we get back."

He was about to leave when- "Steal!" A woman's voice shouted it out, he felt a weight lift off from his left side. He patted it quickly, his sword was gone.

He turned around to see who'd done it, it was Chris. She held the sword in her hands. "Chris, give that back!"

"This sword isn't yours, so I'm taking it back." She quickly turned and sprinted off, he couldn't let her take it.

He chased after her, "Wait for me here, I'll be back in a second!" He left the other two behind as he ran after Chris, what was up with her? He hadn't seen her for so long, and the first thing she does is try to steal his sword from him?

She turned her head to see if he was chasing after her as she ran, he was. "Bind!" A series of ropes was thrown out by her and towards him and looked like they would wrap around him. They did. Then they tightened and tried to immobilize him, but with swift movements he was easily able to snap the ropes and keep running after her. It looked like Chris cursed under her breath. She pushed over a market stall she ran past, spilling all matter of goods onto the ground. One of the things on the stall was a paint bucket full of paint, he grabbed it as he leapt over the ruined goods.

The way she was leading him was in the direction of an alleyway, one where he knew it led to a dead end. She was most likely going to try and hide there, then as he walked past her hiding spot she'd run away. He wasn't going to let that happen. He arc'd the paint bucket up into the air so that it'd crush and open open when it hit the ground. When it did paint splattered all over the ground. "Lurk!" Chris activated her Thief skill, but unknowingly ran straight through the paint and into the alleyway. The red paint tracked her path through the alleyway even if she didn't notice it. He stepped into the alleyway.

The footsteps led straight down the center and went behind the side of a dumpster against one of its walls. He walked a little bit down the center first, to make it seem like he'd walk the full length town. Then he quickly spun and kicked the dumpster hard, rupturing its side but also sending it crashing into Chris. He heard her cry out and go flying as it hit her. He wasn't going to allow for a chance for her to recover from the blow so he charged straight down the alleyway towards her. She dropped the sword and slid on the ground, quickly managing to get herself up. She pulled out her dagger and angled it towards him, then jabbed out with it.

Almost instantly he moved his hand around the blade and grabbed her wrist, taking it with enough force to break and release her grip on the dagger. She cried out in pain and dropped the dagger, he grabbed it with his free hand. If she was going to come at him with a weapon then he wasn't going to offer her the chance to retaliate again. He flipped the blade around and, using his knowledge of the human body, performed three quick and precise stabs towards her midsection. The first into the liver, the second into the kidney and the third into the spleen. All were extremely painful blows normally with just blunt trauma. But if they were stabbed? It could become fatal within a matter of moments. And that was just with each one of them alone.

He released his grip on her arm and she fell backwards holding her wounds, falling onto the cold stone ground covered in blood. "I didn't want to have to do it, but you made it necessary." He walked over and picked up his sword, "You'll want to see a healer quicker or else you're going to-"

"Heal!" Somehow, Chris healed herself. Huh? He thought only Priests classes like it could use that magic. She was a Thief, there's no way that she should be able to use it. He was befuddled. "Escape!" Using that confusion she escaped, not bothering to take back either her dagger or his sword again on the way out. He looked around, there was no sign of her. But he wasn't going to keep looking for her though, hopefully she'd learned her lesson.

He left the alley and walked down the path they'd torn through to get there. How Chris was able to use healing magic was still on his mind, mostly because he had no explanation for it. Maybe there were other classes that could use it but he just didn't know about it? There was no way of telling, it was by no means his area of expertise. This would be a question for Aqua as much as he didn't want to have to rely on her. So he put it out of his mind for now, he could worry about it later. "What happened? Megumin asked when he got back.

"Not sure, she just stole my sword and ran off. Didn't give me any meaningful explanation either, only what you heard too."

"Did… did you kill her?" She glanced at the blood on his armor gauntlet.

"No, she's alive. I got my sword back, took her dagger too."

He held out the blade to Anatalia handle first, "You'll probably make better use of it than me." She took it.

"This dagger, it's… It's enchanted." Yes, he knew that. She'd told him that herself when she taught him the Steal skill. He didn't know what it was enchanted with though.

"Any idea on it's specifics?"

"Not at the moment, I can take a better look at it when we get back."

"Alright then, let's go so Megumin can use her spell then head back home."

**...A Dungeon Detour...**

"Wiz was right, there really aren't any monsters around again." The walked in the plains outside of Axel, there was hardly any noise. Normally in the area they were walking in they encountered at least one or two monsters but today there were none.

"If there's no monsters for me to cast Explosion on, can I do it on that castle?"

"No you can't."

"Why not?!"

"Because I have plans for that castle, ones that need what's left of it to remain intact."

"Plans? What kind of plans?"

"You'll see eventually, but still that means no firing Explosion at that castle. You'll just have to find something else to use it on."

And so they did that, spending the next few hours looking for something to cast it on. But she was extremely picky. Either the place was too boring, too small, too strong or some other reason and because of that she said she wasn't able to cast it there. They were still walking around and searching when Anatalia suddenly stopped, her tail twitched. "What's wrong?"

"I'm suddenly picking up a lot of monsters," she sniffed the air, "They're all that way, but they all seem to be very weak."

"That's perfect!" Megumin shouted, throwing her cape to flow in the wind. She raised her staff.

"Is it really?"

"Of course it is! The more enemies I can cast Explosion on the better." Her eyes lit up, "My name is Megumin! The blow that I am given to strike turns a blind eye to the fate of my kindred, rendering all hope of rebirth into anguish and the model by which all forces are judged! Monsters of the world, synchronize yourself with the red smoke and atone in a surge of blood! Burst forth, Explosion!"

She blasted the general direction of where the monsters were, clearing out a large section of trees in the resulting explosion and blast wave. When the dust cleared they found that they were very near to somewhere they'd been before. "Wait a minute, that's the entrance to Keele's dungeon." With all the trees gone they were able to see the entrance to the dungeon, along with the fact that a large line of somethings was streaming out of it.

"What are those things?" Megumin asked as he picked her up.

"I'm not sure," Anatalia scratched her chin, "But those small things are the same as those monsters I picked up, something or someone must be making them inside there."

The things she was referring to were about as small as dolls, ones that a child would play with. "They look relatively harmless, but it's better to be safe than sorry. After all if someone as small as Megumin can wipe out large groups of monsters, there's no reason to think something else can't do the same." Megumin tried to choke him while on his back, but she really couldn't do anything to him so he ignored it. If something really was making monsters from this dungeon then it would eventually come up to the guild as a quest, one that adventurers would have to be sent to complete. He decided that he'd solve it before it came up. "Alright, we're going to investigate and find out what's making those things."

He put hand cannon onto his arm and loaded a magazine in, he took aim. He was aiming for the small monster at the very front since they all seemed to be marching in formation. Once he had the shot, he fired. "Wind Breath!" The steel ball went flying through the air, striking the monster on what appeared to be its head. But rather than falling down and dying, it exploded! The whole line of monsters behind it went off in a chain explosion as well. "Okay, this may end up being harder than expected. Anatalia, do you have any form of mid to long range skills?"

"Not really. All I have is bind, but that wouldn't be useful in this situation."

Alright, this was mostly up to him then. "Why don't you take Megumin then? I'll do the legwork and you just follow behind me." So she took her from him. It would've helped to have other people with them right now, but if he wanted to get home before dark then they really had no time to run back. "Wind Breath!" He shot at another group of monsters outside, setting off another chain of explosions. With the path outside cleared they entered the dungeon. The amount of those monsters was immense, it was as if something had been creating them for quite some time. Obviously it hadn't been Keele, he hadn't done anything of the like before he asked Aqua to purify him. So who could it be?

"Wind Breath! Wind Breath!" He took down another group of the monsters. All of these monsters looked exactly the same, possessing the same humanoid shape, rounded figure and what appeared to be a mask covering their at least partially human looking faces. One could say they looked like porcelain dolls, though he hadn't heard of any porcelain dolls that exploded when they were smashed. To find the source of these monsters he followed the trail of explosions they left when he destroyed them, leading him deeper and deeper into the dungeon. He didn't know how many of them he destroyed on their way in. But eventually they found someone.

A man sat cross legged in one of the dungeon's corners, dressed in what appeared to be a suit and the same design of mask as those exploding dolls. The ground around him was largely uncovered revealing exposed dirt and clay. The reason behind it was obvious once Aurdel saw the man molding the same dolls with his hands from the dirt, applying some sort of magic to it afterwards. So he was the one responsible for this. He turned to Anatalia, "Use Lurk and hide yourself for now. I'll approach him first."

She nodded, "Lurk!" She and Megumin disappeared into the shadows of the dungeon. Aurdel put away the hand cannon and drew his sword, then stepped forward.

"So you're the one responsible for all of those dolls wandering around," he pointed his weapon at the sitting man.

"Oh? Moi hadn't expected for adventurers to arrive quite yet, moi was still preparing this dungeon. But no matter, welcome to my dungeon! And you art correct, moi am responsible as the source for all evil originating from this dungeon. Moi art a General of the Demon King's army, the Duke of hell that commands the Devils! The Archdevil that can see through anything in the world, Vanir!" Another General of the Demon King? Then this really was another situation like Beldia. He really couldn't let him leave her alive.

"Moi can already sense your intentions man who puts on a noble front but really hides a damaged young boy, I am not here to pick a fight with thou nor the adventurers of this town. After all moi am simply a General in name, as moi only upholds the barrier that surrounds his castle. I am here because the Demon King as moi to investigate the death of Beldia, but also to visit a fellow General with the aptitude of becoming more impoverished even as she works to raise herself out of debt." Aurdel grit his teeth. "Judging by your thoughts, thou seem to have encountered them both. Yes, you seem to be the one responsible for Beldia's death. Tell moi, would thou also happen to know a Hans or a Wolbach?"

Hans or Wolbach? The names weren't familiar, the only two other people from the Demon King's army he'd possible encountered recently would be those two that he'd seen at the mixed bath in Alcanretia. "Thou seems to have met them both too, as well as having the former killed in your encounter with them…" There was an awkward silence between the two of them after that. "Perhaps moi should deal with you now, given how great of a threat you appear to be to the Demon King and myself." Vanir stood up, "Normally moi would not kill humans, but moi might have to make an exception for you and your aggression." His eyes glowed a bloody red at Aurdel.

"I can't let you live, not if you're making those exploding dolls that are wandering out of the dungeon."

"Wandering out? Moi simply made them to drive out all of the monsters from this dungeon. But moi suppose that matters not if we will fight. Vanir Style Death Ray!" A large and bright beam shot out from Vanir and towards Aurdel, he dodged the blast. It crashed into the wall behind him in a ferocious blast, knocking a large amount of stone down. "No one has ever dodged one of my Vanir Style Death Rays before, but no matter." A group of those small exploding dolls leapt out and charged towards him, he swung his sword and cleared them. The resulting explosion kicked up a large amount of dust and dirt practically blind him.

"Vanir Style Death Ray!" This time the blast hit him and his armor and sent him spiraling back. His shields were dropped completely from his and his suit's internal temperature raised a good bit, but besides that he was still in perfect fighting order. Aurdel charged forward with his sword towards Vanir, the Archdevil dodged his blows with fluent motion. "Thou might be fast and strong, but moi can predict your movements! But where are your adventurer friends? Moi doubt you would come here alone, so where are they?"

"I don't have anyone with me, so focus on me!" He kept pressing the attack, but Vanir continued to dodge. Even if Vanir could read his mind it couldn't be while he was either attacking or being attacked, that made it easier for him to push him into an ambush.

Aurdel leapt behind him, forcing him towards the other direction where he'd come from. "Come, come and try and hit moi! Moi can assure thou that it is impossible!" The Archdevil gloated gleefully as Aurdel swung and drove him back where he knew Anatalia was sitting with Megumin. He didn't need to tell either of them what to do though, the fact that he was pushing him back towards them should be enough.

"Maybe I won't be the one to kill you."

"Oh? Does thou have a different plan in mind? Allow moi to offer a counterpoint, Vanir Style Death Ray!" He shot it at him again, Aurdel dodged. Vanir stopped and held his head standing out in the hallway, "Yes, I can see it now! You have-!"

Anatalia shot out from nowhere and stabbed Vanir with the dagger he'd taken from Chris, the Archdevil let out a wail of pain. "T-to think! I'd be defeated here!" Vanir's body dissolved into dirt and the mask fell to the floor.

"Did I get him?" Anatalia asked.

"I wouldn't know, so-"

"Do not get your hopes up! For that body was merely a doll, now I shall take another!" The mask shot forward and tried to stick itself onto Aurdel's helmet. Not only did it ding off his helmet harmlessly, but it gave him the opportunity to grab the mask. "...It appears moi have made a mistake, so release me."

The mask thrashed in his hands as he held it, "Thou wouldn't be able to destroy my mask either, it would take a great force to do so. One that you would not have." Aurdel was willing to test that, he began to bend the mask. "Try not, for thou will be-!" A crack appeared on the mask, "Ah, this is unfortunate." Then, the mask snapped in half and released a large amount of magic. He was left with the two broken halves of the mask, he tossed them aside.

"Well, we're done here."

* * *

"Wiz, why is he here."

"Oh Aurdel! Vanir-san is an old friend, he currently doesn't have a place to go so I allowed him to stay here for now. " He looked around, Aqua was presumably out cold drunk, Darkness was unconscious and Yunyun was off to the side having dinner with the people that were still lively.

"Worry not adventurer surrounded by women but has yet to make a move, moi does not hold a grudge against thou. In fact moi would thank thou for freeing moi from service to the Demon King."

...What? "Now that moi no longer serves him or has any responsibilities to him, moi can freely pursue my dreams to create a dungeon! A dungeon where moi would have a legion of Demons, defending it against a horde of veteran adventurers! Then once they've approached me and defeated me in search of untold riches, they will find that their actions were for naught with a sole paper in a chest. Written it on it will be these words, 'You lost.' Then after that I will pass, I could dream of no better way." Aurdel blinked, he didn't know how to respond. "Moi knows it is a simple desire, but it is one that requires the help of this useless shopkeeper."

"Vanir-san, don't call me useless."

He… he really wasn't up to arguing over this right now. "I'm going to bed."


	19. Chapter 19

**...A Crazy Request...**

Everyone was hanging around in the main room. Aqua and Megumin were playing some chess-like game, Darkness was reading what appeared to be a magazine, Yunyun was looking over a letter, Wiz and Vanir appeared to be planning something, Anatalia was napping and Aurdel was still working on his sketch. "Ho ho! What is this sudden surge of emotion I feel?" Everyone ignored him, it was better to do that than to give in and keep feeding the emotions that this Devil fed off of. So he just kept working.

He heard a piece of paper crumple in someone's hands, "A-Aurdel! I want to have your children!"

Aurdel's hand slipped and tore the sketch paper, he heard the chess board Megumin and Aqua were playing with topple, Darkness' tea spilled and Vanir laughed with excitement. "What did you say?"

"I-I said I want to have your children!" Yunyun repeated it. He blinked, still processing it.

Megumin stood up, "Yunyun, allow me to fix your head with my staff." She picked up her staff and prepared to whack her with it, but Darkness held her back.

"Y-Yunyun, where is this coming from?" Darkness asked before he could.

"I need to-! If I don't, the world will-! The Demon King will-!" She couldn't even finish her own sentences.

"Aqua, did you put Yunyun up to something?" He asked.

"Why do you think I did something wrong?!" She sneakily switched the position of one of Megumin's pieces on the board as she was turned away, "I didn't do anything this time!" This time… Right, he'd keep that in mind.

"Okay then if it's not Aqua… Yunyun, where is this coming from?"

"It's… Here!" She thrust the crumpled piece of paper into his hands and covered her face. What was this, a letter?

He began to read it aloud, "'By the time you receive this letter I probably will have passed on from this world, the Demon King who feared the power of our magic is finally launching an offensive.'" Hearing this Megumin stopped her aggression, Yunyun was sniffling. "'They've already set up a massive base near the village, but that's not all. The General leading their army is one that is highly resistant to magic and is bringing a massive force against us. Fufu… The Demon King still fears us.'" He could see why Yunyun was worried, but where did the part about her wanting his children come in?

"'Because we were unable to break through to their base our offensive options are almost non-existent. But even with that, I, Chief of the Crimson Demon clan, will drag that General of the Demon King with me down into the depths below no matter what it takes. So Yunyun, my beloved daughter, as long as you live the Crimson Demons will live on, I entrust the position as Village Chief to you. As the last of the Crimson Demons, do not allow our bloodline to die out.'" That was the end of the first page. Hmph, that ending seemed to be where Yunyun's proclamation came from. Megumin seemed to miss most of that letter however and got hyper focused on one portion of the letter though.

"How can he say 'last of the Crimson Demons' when I'm right here?!" It was a valid point to get hung up on, but maybe he'd just forgotten about her?

"There's another page to this, so just hold on," maybe this letter would clarify things a little more. "'The Diviner in the village foresaw the destruction of the Crimson Demon village at the hands of the Demon King's army, but she also foresaw a glimmer of hope in the darkness that surrounded these terrible prophecies. Yunyun, being the sole survivor of the village-'"

"Why is Yunyun the sole survivor?!"

"-would make it her life's mission to defeat the Demon King and avenge her fallen people, training until the day that it would become possible. But one day she would meet a man in a city of beginners. This man was strong but broken, reliable but unwilling and would become her future spouse.'" He blinked, Megumin looked like she was about to try and strangle both of them now so Darkness continued holding her back.

"'Their lives together were a struggle but in the end they found that they were happy. Years later their child would grow up take up his mother's quest to defeat the Demon King and set on from their home following the death of his father. This journey was filled with untold perils, and ultimately it was up to this boy and his strength of will to avenge the fallen." Aurdel finished reading this, he had several questions. In the background he could hear what sounded like Vanir laughing to himself and enjoying every moment of this.

"Moi has never tasted such strong and dark emotions before!"

"Y-Yunyun, you can't seriously be considering this… c-can you?" Darkness stuttered.

"I didn't want to believe it, but I don't have a choice. Besides, I-I love Aurdel!" Megumin shot forward again to try and get at Yunyun.

He read to the bottom of the page silently, "I'm sorry to be the one to burst the bubble, but that second page wasn't part of the letter."

Yunyun shot a look of amazement towards him, "E-eh?!"

"It really isn't. Look here at the bottom it says, 'Legend of the Crimson Demon Hero Chapter One' and 'Postage is expensive so I asked the Chief to send this over with his letter -Arue.'" He looked up, Yunyun let out a squeak and covered her completely red and embarrassed face. Vanir kept on laughing. "Alright well look, even if that second page was a completely separate thing the first still stands. Your home is under threat from the Demon King. Wiz, Vanir, would either of you know which General would be there?"

"I'm afraid I don't," Wiz said with a pang of sadness, "I don't stay in contact with the Demon King or his forces."

"Moi would not be at the disposal of such information of the moment, after all thou did kill moi the other day." Well, it was worth a shot.

"A-Aurdel, we still have to save my h-home!" Yunyun managed to muster up a little courage after everything.".

"As much as I don't want to admit it, I agree with Yunyun. I have a little sister back in the village and I don't want to see any harm come to her."

"I suppose that means we're going then."

"If you're all going to the Crimson Demon village could you say hello to Hyoizaburo for me?" Wiz asked.

"That name!" Megumin shouted, "How do you know that name?!"

"Eh?! He's who I buy all my magic items from!"

"So you're the one that's responsible for my fathers constant self inflicted poverty!" Megumin tried to charge at her, Darkness held her back and Vanir let out a ferocious laugh. Aurdel's only thought was about he lives in a madhouse.

"Hey Megumin, I'm still waiting for you to finish your turn," Aqua said pulling on her clothes.

"Explosion!" Megumin flipped the board without a moment's hesitation, all the pieces went flying.

"Waaaah!"

Anatalia poked her head out over the couch, "Could you all quiet down? I'm trying to nap." He felt much the same. He was done trying to reason things out here. So, unwilling to stay here and listen to more arguing, he when the guild to go get a drink.

* * *

"Hey, there he is!" There was a cheer as he entered the guild. By now he and his party were recognized and celebrated figures in Axel. They were responsible for the defeat of three Generals of the Demon King along with the defense of Axel against the Mobile Fortess Destroyer. If anyone was considered veteran adventurers around here they were it. "Hey Aurdel, treat us!" "Yeah come on, all that reward money and you still haven't bought us a round yet!"

Hmph, normally he would tell them off but he wasn't in the mood to do that right now. "Alright, the next two rounds are on me." There was a louder collective cheer now that they knew he was buying. The drinks went out, he took his and began to drank.

Dust came up to him, drunk. "Hey man, I got to thank you for the drinks tonight. Really didn't have the money to spend on it tonight. And let me just say you're like a dad to me."

"What do you want Dust?"

"Hold on, I'm getting there. I just wanted to ask how you do if."

"Do what?"

"Come on man, you know what I mean. How are you so good with the girls?"

"I'm not."

He pointed at him, "Don't bullshit me," he burped. "Not only do you have a party of total babes but you also have that good looking shopkeeper living with you, hell you even have the counter lady making goo goo eyes head over heel for you." He punched his shoulder and pointed over towards Luna, he looked over and saw that she was in fact staring. She quickly turned away after she realized they seen her looking, "See?"

"I fail to see you're point, I'm not going after any of them."

"Huh, why not?" Dust spilled some of his drink as he pestered him.

"What do you mean why not? Dust, I'm in my forties and have already been with a woman before."

"So? Doesn't mean you can't keep playing the game."

"I don't crave sex, I can live without it. And even if I did I'm locked in this suit of armor." Part of it was also because his sex drive was essentially destroyed by the augmentation procedureshe'd undergone, he physically couldn't crave it even if he wanted to. Regardless, he didn't.

"If you say so, but if I were you I'd try it." Aurdel waved him away, so Dust drunkenly stumbled off. What a load of crap. Anyways, if he was here at the guild he might as well take the chance to do some prep work for them going on the trip to the Crimson Demon village.

He walked over to the guild's main counter where the clerks were working, some of them drinking at the same time. Doing that was probably bad for their work but with how much went down around here and how much work had to be done he really couldn't blame them for letting off some steam. "A-ah, Aurdel, how can I help you?" Luna's face was pink, possibly of mixture both of alcohol and her embarrassment from seeing her staring at him.

"I need some maps and lists of monsters for a specific area."

"You're leaving Axel again so soon?" Her tone held a little worry.

"I am, the Crimson Demon Village. Some in my party have family there, they don't want anything to happen to them since a General of the Demon King was spotted near them."

She rifled through the desk, searching for some papers. Judging by her movements she was at least a little bit drunk, though he had no idea as to how much she'd actually drank. But eventually she managed to pull out a stack of papers and laid them out on the counter, closing the drawer she'd pulled it from. "The area is quite dangerous even just heading from Alcanretia," she hiccuped, "No carriage runs to the Crimson Demon village, you'll have to get there by foot. The enemies you'll find along the way are all very dangerous, monsters like One Hit Bears or Orcs. I'd worry about the latter, especially for you."

"You don't have to worry about me, just worry about taking care of yourself."

"No, I can't…" She walked out from behind the counter and towards him, stumbling a little as she did. "You have to be careful because losing you would be too much, there are people that care for you and want you to succeed. But you can only do that by staying alive for them." She put a hand on his armor's chestplate solemnly, "So please, stay alive." The way she was acting was rather unprofessional but her concern was appreciated even if it was possibly unwarranted. He didn't plan to die yet however, there were still too many things that had to be done that he needed to do before he could go. He wasn't about to let those things go unfinished.

**...Path of Demons...**

"Just so you know, we're not going to be stopping or staying at Alcanretia. We're just passing through."

"But why?!" Aqua wailed.

"What do you mean 'why?' If the Demon King's General really is about to attack their village then there is no knowing how long they can hold out. And besides, weren't you chased around town by an angry mob the last time we were there?"

"But I love my faithful!"

"You might love them, but I don't see much proof of them loving you. Yunyun? Teleport us to Alcanretia."

"O-of course, Aurdel. Teleport!" At the end of their last trip, they'd made it a point of making sure they could go back to the city whenever they wanted to. Even if the city was full of crazies it was better to have places they could quickly travel to whenever they needed to.

The world shifted around them and once they came to they were greeted with the same blue brick color schemes of Alcanretia. Aqua immediately tried to sprint off, he grabbed her by the collar. "I already told you're we're not wasting time here."

"Don't call my patron city a-!" Unwilling to deal with her complaining, he dealt a precise chop to her neck with his right hand. She tumbled to the ground. Knowing where pressure points were on the body sure was useful. Since he was carrying all of their supplies on his back he was going to have Darkness carry Aqua for the trip, at least until they were out of Alcanretia.

"Alright, let's move before we get seen by any cultists." They booked it out of there. After that they found themselves on the path towards the Crimson Demon village.

"Alright, according to this map the village is about two days out from here. But if we keep a quick pace we should be able to make it there in a little more than a day."

"Aurdel I don't think even I can match your pace, especially with Aqua on my back," Darkness said.

"It'd be better to move quicker, that way we can avoid most of the monsters along the road. And that's another thing, me and Anatalia will be keeping watch for anything that comes our way. So if either of us says to run then you have to run."

"Why do we have to run?" Megumin questioned, "You're in the presence of the greatest Archwizard there is, the one that knows the strongest offensive magic in the world!" She raised her staff to emphasize her point.

"Megumin, Explosion magic is the only magic you know!"

"And what's wrong with that Yunyun?!" The two of them began to tussle.

"Can you two save the fighting for your home rather than each other?"

The smooth path in the dirt led them towards a forest, one with thick vegetation and a splitting path. He was looking down at the map to see which way they had to go down when the others began to make a fuss again over something, "Look, there's someone over there," Darkness said. He lifted her head to see who she was referring to, finding her pointing at what looked like a lone little girl with green hair sitting atop a boulder. On her were bandages covered with blood, she would occasionally glance to her right foot too. Then she looked over towards them and began to wave. At the same time he and Anatalia had the same feeling as their skills went off, they looked at each other.

"A-are you alright-?" Yunyun began to walk over towards her, he put a hand on her shoulder.

"As much as I don't want to say this, I have to. That's not a little girl. That's a monster." The others looked at him with a look of shock. How could they be surprised by something like this at this point? They'd already seen a mimic that did something similar in a dungeon before, they shouldn't be surprised.

"But how can such a cute little girl be-?"

He looked for the description of the monster on the map, "The Tranquility Girl is a plant type monster that doesn't hurt travellers physically, but it will stimulate their urges of protection and lure them to its side. Once one has become emotionally attached to the Tranquility Girl it is near impossible to escape it, leaving the traveller trapped until their death." They all glanced again at the monster, "Any adventurer that encounters this monster should proceed with extreme caution and exterminate it. When a traveller does go to its side the monster will cling to them, making it harder for them to escape. And if one tries to leave because of hunger it will offer them delicious tasting fruit that fills the stomach but offers no nutrients. Prolonged eating of these fruits will sever the danger signals of hunger, fatigue and pain, causing travellers who had encountered them to fall into a frail dream like state."

Such a fruit sounded like it might be useful to have even if it had its risks. He could already think of a thousand ways someone militarily inclined might be able to use it, that was the influence ONI had on him kicking in. He kept reading, "But many do travel to these monsters in search of a peaceful and tranquil death, hence their name. Once one has passed on the Tranquility Girl will root themselves in the corpse of dead traveller and use them as nutrients to sustain themselves for a long period of time." He was already dead set on killing this thing before, but that last part just solidified the fact.

The others wandered near it, only he and Anatalia stayed back from it after hearing an explanation about the monster. They all comforted it as if it was an actual child. Megumin held it's hand, Darkness brushed its hair. Cautiously coming closer he could see that the bandages and wounds it had weren't real, they were as much as a mimic as it being an actual little girl. He could see that even the boulder it sat on was a part of its body, just another trick to fool travellers that came this way. No wonder no one wanted to travel to the Crimson Demon village like this. Behind it he could see a branch with the fruits the guide on the map had spoken of, they looked like white peaches.

Monster or not, at least those could be useful in the future. He drew his sword, "Alright all of you, like it or not we have to kill this thing. If not some poor sucker is going to walk down this road and get killed by it."

"A-Aurdel! You can't!" Megumin stood defensively in front of it. "It's just a little girl, she-"

"That is a monster, not a little girl. And even if it wasn't a legitimate monster I'd consider it a monster anyways. The real monsters in the world are the ones that prey on the kind and naive, taking everything from them without a moment's hesitation just because a slight amount of help was offered to them."

"He… He's right…" Darkness drew her sword too, though she seemed unsteady and still somewhat unsure of herself in needing to kill the Tranquility Girl.

The Tranquility Girl looked like it was crying, that made Darkness waver more in her stance. "Didn't want to have to do this, but if you're not going to move I don't have any other choice. Anatalia?"

"Got it, Bind!" Anatalia use her skill to throw ropes at both Yunyun and Megumin who were trying to defend the Tranquility girl, tying them up and causing them to fall over.

"No, Aurdel, don't!" Yunyun shouted. He lunged forward quickly, not allowing himself to be stopped by any of the others, with his sword, he gave a swift strike. He bisected the Tranquility Girl, the others began to cry.

"This may be a dangerous world, but so was the one that I came from. I know better than anyone else that some things have to be done to stay alive."

* * *

They hadn't made it as far as he'd hoped, but the distance they'd gone was still acceptable. Night had begun to fall so they agreed to stop and rest until the morning. They set down a cloth along the side of the road, not directly as to avoid being attacked out in the open but also not extremely far away as to avoid losing the path by morning. The six of them all cornered off a section on the cloth and sat down. Because Aurdel could see in the dark and was capable of staying up for long periods of time, he'd be taking the full night watch while the others slept. It was unnecessary to have anyone else stay up with him, Anatalia at most might be helpful, but he preferred that he do it alone so that they might get more sleep. Besides, he was the only one that could deal consistent damage quietly. The others were either not consistent enough or would make too much noise.

"Are you sure that you're fine with staying up for so long?" Darkness asked, "You've done it before but-"

"Staying up for one night is nothing, I've stayed up for weeks at a time when it was demanded of me. Sure I felt like crap because of it but it was what had to be done at the time." He brushed Yunyun's hair, she'd laid her head on his lap and fallen asleep. He could tell that Megumin was upset seeing that but eventually just accepted it.

"You've already told us some of the things about you, but you haven't told us everything. Where are you from?"

"That's a complicated question, one that I can give multiple answers to."

"Then try and answer it in the best way you can."

He sighed, "Well, where I'm from life isn't limited to just one planet. Humanity had already long ago left its original home for the stars and colonized other planets. I don't know what planet I was born on or to whom I was born. Looking at my CSV, a document containing all the information the UNSC had on me, only gave me an unconfirmed possible birth place, a planet known as Galuade. But like I said I didn't know my parents so I ended up being orphaned, eventually I was adopted and my new family took me to a planet known as Arcadia."

"It all sounds so far fetched, but with the way your speaking it really does seem like it is the truth. What was it like on Arcadia?"

"That's because it is the truth," he shook his head. "Arcadia didn't have a lot of people, most of it was jungle and there was only really one large city and that was Pirth. That's where we lived, though my parents owned a small cottage out away from the city. It was nice there, I made friends with other kids my age and everything went fine." He bit his lip, "Then I got kidnapped by ONI, the apartment my family lived in burned down the same night. They said that the fire wasn't a result of the agents work but somehow I doubt that."

"But why were you kidnapped?"

"It's like I said before, I was kidnapped to become a part of the Spartan II program." He had no problem sharing any of this, he was far from ONI's claws.

"From the moment I became part of it until the day I was discharged and joined the Navy, I spent my time training on the planet of Reach. To me, to all of us, it became our new home. One that we fought, bled and died for."

"And Reach was…?"

"Reach was humanity's second most important planet, only Earth was considered more important. It was the hub of all the UNSC military activities and was considered an impenetrable fortress world. Oh how wrong they were…" They paid attention attentively as he explained everything. "Reach was where I died, I died saving two fellow Spartans. Then I came here."

"If that planet was so important that you died for it, what makes Earth so important?"

"Earth was… Is the home of humanity, it's where we came from. Millenia were spent fighting over every inch of its ground. There's no reason not to defend it. I just hope it hasn't been attacked yet."

"Why's that-"

"Because it's important to me, I lived there for some time, and there are still some people important to me living on it. Now I think it's about time that you two went to sleep, there's still a long way to go tomorrow even with the distance we travelled today." He shooed them off so that they might actually try and get some sleep while he kept guard. Time passed and the sun had gone down completely, the only sound that could be heard was that of the wind blowing through the trees and the soft snoring of his party. Though it was only soft because he'd shoved a pillow in Aqua's face, he knew from sleeping in the stables for weeks what to expect from her.

He was looking off towards the distance watching for monsters, specifically undead because of the aforementioned Goddess of poor luck, when something tugged at his arm. He turned, "I thought I told you to go to sleep."

"I couldn't, not without asking you something first." Megumin had refused to go to sleep despite him instructing her otherwise.

"Alright, if you won't go to sleep without asking me it then go ahead."

"It… it relates back to what we were talking about before. Have you… Have you ever thought about going back to where you're from?"

"Thought about it? Sure. There's people still alive that I care about, but as far as they all know I'm dead. Some of them have thought that for years by this point. But even then there's no way for me to go home." Megumin seemed almost sorry for asking, he could tell by her expression that there was a little pain showing on his face. "But I'm here now and that's all that matters. And I'll protect you all no matter what." He grabbed her hat and ruffled her hair, "Now go to sleep, it's still going to be a long day tomorrow."


	20. Chapter 20

**...These Crazy Archwizards...**

"Get up already. I let you sleep in an extra half an hour, that should be more than enough." Everyone woke up rubbing their eyes. All except for Aqua. He pointed his right arm at her, "Create Water!" A jet of cold water shot from his hand and soaked her, causing her to jolt up awake. "Good, now we can get going."

"Hey! Aren't you going to apologize?! I am a Goddess! I should be treated like a Goddess!"

"Treat my foot." He slung his bags over his shoulder and walked away as Aqua shouted after him. Judging by what the map was saying they should be able to make it to the village by the end of the day. Granted, that was without any setbacks to impede their progress. Supposedly there were still enemies like Griffins and Orcs still in the area. They were enemies he'd never encountered, so it was entirely possible for fights with them to go easy or to go horribly wrong. It was probably best to ask about them before they had to fight them. "Megumin, Yunyun, I had a few questions about some of the monsters in the area."

"Go ahead."

"What are Griffins like? I know what they are, but I've never seen them or fought them."

"Griffins?" Yunyun repeated, putting a thoughtful finger up to her mouth. "I haven't seen a Griffin near the village, not recently, so I couldn't tell you how they fight."

"Unfortunately neither can I, though there is a petrified Griffin in the village that we can see if you want," Megumin answered.

"That wasn't the point of the question, I wanted to know so I might get an idea of how to fight them."

"Well we don't know," she shrugged. How helpful.

"Okay then, what about Orcs?"

"I've never fought an Orc, but I can tell you that they're really dangerous since they have their own village nearby."

"I presume their big, strong, and ugly?" Kind of like Brutes, he imagined.

"That's accurate, it's usually best to avoid them. Especially if you're a man," Yunyun added.

"That's-" Wait, he just heard something he didn't understand. "Why especially for men? I don't know much about them except from stereotypes I heard occasionally from books but aren't they usually supposed to be a race of brutish men that do horrible things to women."

"That's how they used to be," Darkness sighed, "Unfortunately they've essentially wiped out all their men, so instead they take it upon themselves to raid the territory of others, capture men and bring them back to the village where they're squeezed dry."

"I don't know whether I should be more worried about what you said or the fact that you sound disappointed they're not doing it to women anymore."

"I-I'm not disappointed, being treated in such a h-horrible, lewd way is… is... " She couldn't finish her line of thought as her imagination was most likely going wild, he could see her face turning pink and beginning to pant expectantly. Yes, he was done asking questions about this topic. He'd rather just fight them head on at this point.

"They're fat, have pig-like faces and often smell," Megumin added on, "Anyone they take back is usually never seen again." Stop it, he could hear Darkness' breathing getting more intense by the second just from the description. "Their treatment is supposedly so awful that adventurers often take their own lives before they can be-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," he covered Megumin's mouth while looking at Darkness, "You really need to be careful about what you say, especially around people like her."

"P-p-people like me, so cold~!" Darkness tipped and fell over, excited.

"I didn't think it was possible to feel violated by words, I've learned something new today," he muttered as Darkness slowly stood up and started to follow them again. The path they walked was clear for the most part, there were a few fallen obstacles but those didn't impede their progress. It was when they reached the top of a hill that they would experience their first problem. He was picking up enemies off in the distance via both his motion tracker and Enemy Detection, but he couldn't see any of them. "Can any of you see any enemies?" He kept surveying the surrounding landscape, but there were no signs of them.

"No, I don't see anything," Anatalia said. He'd hoped that she'd at least seen something since she was the only other one a skill to locate enemies.

"Okay then, keep on your guard and-" He saw something on his motion tracker for just a split second, it was coming towards him. Not wanting to be struck by whatever he was he leapt out of the way and the creature went flying past him. It slowed itself down and turned as soon as it'd gained its balance, Aurdel drew his sword.

"You're quick," a feminine but still deep voice said. The person, or thing rather, that had said it was the creature, a pig headed and fat monster. An Orc. "And judging by the look of your armor and weapon, you're strong too. You'll make a great father for my children!" This world really was awful. The creature charged him again and looked like it would try to grab and subdue him this time, but unlike before Aurdel was ready and knew what was coming his way.

He managed to adeptly avoid the attempted tackle by the Orc with a sidestep, using the opportunity he quickly cut with Gram and severed its left arm from its shoulder. It let out what sounded like a horrific combination between an oink and a squeak as green blood poured out of its wound. If there were more like this one, he didn't want to have to face them all at once. So he'd end this quickly. He thrust Gram through its back, presumably severing its spinal cord as it ceased to thrash or move around at all. Once he pulled his weapon out it's corpse fell to to the grass dead. "Alright, let's get out of here before anymore of them come."

"Aurdel! Don't you know that if you do something like that you'll just… end up… targeted... " Megumin began to say something as they ran, then stopped.

He looked where everyone else was looking. It was a huge group of Orcs. Seeing this, Aurdel immediately backpedalled and fell to the ground as they began to chase after him. "Light of Saber!" Yunyun cast one of her spells and cut a group of the Orcs in half. Seeing their comrades die, the other Orcs stumbled back and had second thoughts about approaching them. With some confidence, but also some embarrassment, he saw her flick her cape and point her wand at the Orcs, "I am Yunyun! Top mage of the Crimson Demons, wielder of Advanced Magic and future Chief of the Crimson Demons! To the Orcs attacking us I'll spare you simply for the fact that we're neighbors, but you must leave!" She shouted it at them. It honestly wasn't something that he'd expect out of her.

The Orcs scrambled and ran away in fear of Yunyun, "How dare you call yourself the 'Top mage of the Crimson Demons!'" Megumin shouted, "That's my title to hold!"

"It is not! You may have been top in our class for mana capacity and magical studies, but only you picked a magic as useless as Explosion!"

"How dare you call my Explosion magic useless!" Megumin swung her staff at Yunyun as they kept walking, Aurdel just sighed.

Yunyun shielded herself, "If anyone found out about Megumin only knowing Explosion magic she'd be disgraced."

"If you want to talk about embarrassing secrets then why don't I tell everyone yours?! Everyone, when Crimson Demons are born we get tattoos. The placement of each one is different and Yunyun's is on-"

"What crazy thing are you saying?! And why do you know where it is?!"

"Quiet both of you, I get that you don't like each other but you really should keep it down. If there are troops of the Demon King they're bound to hear you-"

"Over there! I heard human voices coming from over there!" Well, out of the frying pan. He already had his weapon drawn so everyone else drew theirs.

"Look, there they are! Two of them are Crimson Demons, the rest are human adventurers! We can definitely earn some awards for this!" A large group of demonic looking creatures surrounded them in the forest. The one leading them was slim but muscular, with dark skin, sharp ears and a single horn on its head.

"You want to call my Explosion useless?! I'll show you just how useful it is!" Megumin raised her staff.

"Megumin, don't you dare-!" He began to shout.

"Explosion!" She cast her spell, engulfing the area in the magic explosion. The demonic monsters were all blown away. But so were they. When the dust finally settled the area was nothing but a charred crater with fallen trees surrounding the area all around it. "How is that for useless?! Aurdel, if you had to give that a score what would you give it?!"

"Zero points! You blew us up along with all of those enemies!" He stood up and dusted himself off. Aqua wailed, Darkness looked pleased with herself, Yunyun looked dismayed and Anatalia spit out a mouthful of dirt.

Unfortunately for them, their troubles weren't finished, Another group of those demons came wandering over and surrounded them. But only moments later those same demons dropped all their weapons and gear and charged towards them in a panic. Looking around four figures in black outfits, one that you could almost call the same as the stereotypical biker from the twentieth or twenty first century, appeared out of thin air, probably having using invisibility magic. Even from here he could see their glowing red eyes, "Run!" One of the demons shouted, "It's-!" It was unable to finish its thought.

"Disappear without even a trace of your flesh, burn in the dark flames from the abyss of my heart!" One of the four shouted.

"Oh no, I can't suppress it anymore! Become the sacrifice to pacify my destructive urges!" The second said.

"Come, fall into eternal slumber… In the embrace of my ice-cold arms…!" The third.

"Please rest in peace. I won't forget you all. That's right, your existence will be engraved forever… In the memories of my soul…!" The fourth. Those… those didn't sound like those were chants for spells. Rather, they sounded like-

"Light of Saber!" "Light of Saber!" "Light of Saber!" "Light of Saber!" The four of them all said it at the same time and cut a clean path through all of the demons. And yes, the fact that they used that spell in particular confirmed his thought. Those weren't chants to cast spells, those were just things they said to sound cool. Terrific, these people are all the same. Eventually the four of them approached Aurdel and his party, once the demons were all wiped out.

"We heard the sound of an Explosion in the distance, so me and the anti-Demon King guerilla unit came running over. But isn't that you, Megumin and Yunyun? What are you two doing here?"

"We heard that the village was in danger Bukkoroli, so we came to see if we could help out."

"Danger?" The man scratched his chin, "The village isn't in danger, we've been handling things just fine here." Oh, perfect. "By the way, who are these people you're travelling with? Are they your adventuring comrades?" She nodded, for some reason the man became extremely serious. He flicked his cape, "My name is Bukkoroli, I am a wielder of Advanced Magic, son of the owner of the best shoe shop in the Crimson Demon village and leader of the anti-Demon King guerilla unit!" The man made a pose to emphasize his idea of self-importance. Normally he might have called the man a dramatic idiot but after having seen Megumin and Yunyun do it, it hardly phased him.

Well if he was surrounded by the insane then he might as well act the same way, "My name is Aurdel, I'm a Spartan who has fought with Generals of the Demon King and lead the charge that defeated the Mobile Fortress Destroyer." That seemed to catch the four of them by surprise.  
"Woah, we never expected an outside to not give a weird reaction. But we really didn't expect for them to respond in kind!" Yep, easy to please idiots.

Aqua went next of course, though he assumed that had he not gone before her she would have tried to be first. "My name is Aqua, my identity is that of the Goddess of Water, the one worshipped by the masses, and I will be the one to slay the Demon King!" The four were impressed easily, again.

"I'm Anatalia, a Master Thief. I hail from the western continent where I was known as the Queen of Thieves!" Anatalia announced something that he hadn't heard from her before, it was entirely possible that she was just making it up. The four of them look expectantly to Darkness who hadn't yet announced herself.

With all eyes on her, she tried to meet their expectations. "M-my name D-Dustiness Ford L-La… latina… from Axel!" She covered her face at the moment, showing some actual shame for once due to her failure. Why couldn't she show a little self awareness more often? The other four didn't care though, they didn't seem to mind watching her embarrass herself.

"Well these are some fine comrades that you've found Megumin. The village is still a ways out, so we'll just bring you back with us. Teleport!" At that moment they were teleported away without a moment's notice. If it weren't for his experience with slipspace, he thought that all the teleporting he'd done recently would get him sick.

* * *

"Welcome to the Crimson Demon village!" Bukkoroli raised his arms with grandeur, spinning and showing off the village as his party looked around dumbfounded. "Anyways, we should get back to our patrol. It was nice meeting you all!" After that, the man walked over to the other three he'd shown up, chanted a spell softly, then disappeared.

"Hmph, they seem somewhat professional," he commented quietly.

"Really? Well I'm sure they're happy to hear that from you. Because they're probably nearby," Megumin said.

"Nearby?"

"Yeah," Yunyun said, "You can't teleport one after another, so they used Light of Reflection to turn themselves invisible and hide. They probably did it so they could have a cool exit- Ow!" A pebble flew through the air and hit Yunyun.

"By the way, the spell only works by putting a barrier in front of the user for a few meters. You can't see the inside from the outside normally, but if you get right up close to it you'll be able to see them." Hearing that Aqua stepped forward, he heard a gasp without a face to place it with. Then, when he heard something back away, Aqua charged forward. Like a cat with a laser pointer she ran all around the village, it was partially amusing but disappointing at the same time. Maybe he should get something like that for her to chase around at home if she was being too rowdy? It could work, it could be like a carrot on a stick but with wine instead of a carrot.

Looking around the village it hardly looked like they were in open conflict with the Demon King. Rather, there were plenty of people just yawning and lazing around at this time of day. If he didn't know better he would say this place reminded him more of a resort town than anything. Eventually Aqua came running back over, tired. "I can't believe that they outran me, a Goddess!"

"They probably used their magic to buff themselves, a dirty trick," Megumin said shaking her head, "I wouldn't expect any less from NEETs."

"From what?" Aurdel asked, an eyebrow raised behind his helmet.

"From NEETs, don't you know what those are?"

"Do you think I would be asking if I knew? Oh never mind, this'll just be a waste of time. Yunyun, why don't we go see your father and see what that letter was all about?"

"R-right." She lead him and the others towards a home near the center of the village, a rather large mansion that stood out next to all of smaller cottage like homes in the village.

"What do you mean it's nothing to worry about?" Aurdel asked. Once inside they found themselves sitting opposite a middle aged man, Yunyun's father.

"Oh that letter was just one to my daughter about how I was doing. I only got a little carried away when I was writing it, but that was my Crimson Demon blood act up."

"That's not how blood works…"

"W-well if you're fine, can you explain your letter in a little more detail then?" Yunyun was partially in a state of shock. "At the start of the letter you said that you had probably already passed on from this world."

"It's just the standard Crimson Demon greeting! Weren't you supposed to learn that in school?" The standard what greeting was what now? "Oh though I do suppose you and Megumin did graduate early just because of how good you were, so that can't be helped."

"...and the military base by the Demon King?"

"Oh, that. Well the Demon King built this really elaborate and extravagant base and we couldn't decide whether or not we should keep it." Aurdel was ready to slam his head onto the coffee table in front of him, Yunyun looked like she was going to ask him to punch her father.

"So, there's nothing going on here then?" He asked.

"Well there should be an attack coming up, you'll be able to see that magic resistant General of theirs if you take a look with me. What do you say?" It couldn't hurt to take a look.

Aurdel was about to answer when a voice over what sounded like a loudspeaker spoke, "Attention, Attention, Demon King army alert. All those who are free please gather at the Griffin statue and prepare for combat, the enemy currently numbers at about one thousand."

**...Inhospitable Hospitality...**

Initially when he'd heard that there were a thousand of the Demon King's forces heading their way, he thought that he had to be worried and would have to participate in the oncoming battle. This feeling increased when he saw that only fifty Crimson Demons showed up to oppose them. However, when the attack actually began this feeling was completely wiped away. Coincidentally, so were the forces of the Demon King. "Lightning Strike!" "Energy Ignition!" "Freeze Gust!" "Cursed Lightning!"

This battle was, in fact, a one sided massacre. And like a car crash in slow motion, you can't help but watch it as it happens and take in every moment of it. He watched as the Demons were pelted with spell after spell of high level magic, either freezing in a wall of ice, bursting into flames or being charred by a bolt of lightning. Eventually a tall figure in a red dress walked out from the middle of the group of Demons, ordering them about. That was most likely the General leading them. They didn't stand for long.

Right away Bukkoroli and another Crimson Demon he didn't know the name of stepped forward. The former cast their spell, summoning a tornado like torrent on both the General and their troops. Then the latter person cast their spell, summoning a huge blaze of fire in the tornado. He kept watching as the Demons were slaughtered and were eventually forced to retreat by the overwhelming force of the Crimson Demons. After that they decided that they would rest for the rest of the day.

Yunyun left them, saying she was off to punish her friend Arue for the part of the letter that she'd sent and confused her with. The rest of them went off to Megumin's house where they were supposed to be staying during their time here. The house that Megumin led them to was rather small compared to the others in the village, especially when compared to Yunyun's home, and looked rather rundown. He knocked on the door. Moments later, little footsteps could be heard running on the inside towards the door right before it opened. "Hey Komekko, I'm home. Have you been a good girl?" Megumin said. They all stood in front of the door.

The young girl, who looked like she was young enough to be in elementary school, stared at them for a moment. She yelled, "Mom! Dad! Big sister brought back a man!" And ran off. Great, things were off to a good start. Eventually, after an initially heated confrontation in the living room, he found he himself sitting before Megumin's parents. The air was awkward as the two of them stared at him with his helmet off. Somewhere off to the side Darkness, Aqua and Anatalia were playing with Komekko, who eventually settled with just fluffing and sleeping on the white fox's soft tail.

"Thank you, for taking care of my daughter. I express my sincere gratitude for that." Megumin's father, Hyoizaburo, gave a light bow.

Her father was a man with dark hair, sharp eyes but also a tired expression on his face to match his partially ragged appearance. Her mother meanwhile was a beautiful woman, one with looks similar to Megumin herself and only slight wrinkles at the corner of her lips and eyes. "Yes, we have heard of all the trouble that you've been through together from the letters that she's sent back. We deeply appreciate the care that you give our daughter." She gave a deep bow as opposed to her husbands light bow. Clearly these two had different thoughts on their minds.

"So, what is the relationship that you have with my daughter?" Hyoizaburo asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Aurdel looked over towards Megumin, she was asleep and had been asleep for a while now as they'd been talking. It certainly would have helped to have her here. "My relationship? She was the second person to join my party, she's a valuable part of it but she's nothing more than a partymate."

"Somehow I doubt that…" Her father lowered his head.

"Why's that?"

"Because our daughter has already sent a letter mentioned how she slept with you before," Yuiyui chimed in. Ah, context is king.

"Then I'm afraid you got the wrong idea of 'sleep with,' I never slept with her in that manner. In fact I can't do that with anyone because I'm stuck in this suit of armor." He tapped his titanium chestplate, "all that really happened was that she was having trouble falling asleep and I helped her go to bed." Megumin's father seemed relieved to hear that but her mother seemed to be less so. He looked back over towards the others. Aqua has lost interest in performing her tricks and had gone to lazing about, Darkness was quietly drinking some tea that had been set out and Anatalia was still snuggling up with Komekko.

The way she was acting was odd, as it was more akin to how a mother treated her daughter than anything else. She hadn't mentioned any sort of family when he'd first met her or anything of the sort since, but it could be that she just didn't want to open up about it yet. It was something he could ask her about later, right now he had to focus on Megumin's parents. "I do have to ask, what is the financial status of your party?" Yuiyui questioned, Hyoizaburo shot an almost apologetic look at him after she'd asked that.

"We're not in bad financial standing if that's what you're asking, I'm keeping a large portion of our party's funds in storage to keep it safe."

"...And how much might you have?"

He had to think about the question since he hadn't exactly entirely known himself, he could only give a rough estimate. "Hmm… Around one billion eris?" Yuiyui nearly dropped her cup full of tea hearing that.

"My my, so much. You must spoil my daughter, but where do you live?"

"In a mansion just outside of Axel."

"A mansion?!" The both of them shouted, practically getting in his face with their eyes glowing, before backing off and collecting themselves again. These people really were something else...The look he saw in their eyes was devious and planning. He decided that he would try and ease the mood a little.

"Here… Something to repay your hospitality." He handed over a wrapped box, the two of them tried to grab it at the same time and began to passive aggressively fight over it. He blinked and looked over towards the other four. The lack of attention they paid to this conversation was astounding. Rather than get in between their arguing he decided to go over to the Anatalia and Komekko, he patted the little girl on the head and sat down next to them. "Say, Anatalai, do you have any family?"

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"She took a bun he handed to took and gave it to Komekko who began to nibble on it right away.

"I didn't say that, I was just asking because you're giving off a really motherly feeling."

"Really?" She tilted her head, "Well I wouldn't be the only one. After all, from what I've heard from the others you try to act like a father a lot."

"Funny story…" he muttered quietly.

"But no, I don't have any kids. I do have a little sister that I had to take care of, though."

"Had to?"

"I was separated from her a long time ago. The country I came from wasn't exactly the most stable. So when tensions began to rise again and battles happened I sent her away so she'd be safe, because I only had enough money for her."

"I heard a lot of stories like that where I'm from, both because of the Insurrection and because of the Covenant."

"Insurrection?"

"The Insurrection was a political movement turned full on rebellion that started in the Outer Colonies, the usually poorer of the planets in the UEG and last to be colonized. Millions died, civilians and combatants alike. They were who I was originally trained to fight."

"And the Covenant?"

"An alien empire seeking to destroy humanity, they were ultimately who I ended up fighting against. The war against them was still going on when I died but I have no idea how it'll end. But I pray that people like John will keep the fight going and finish the fight against the Covenant."

"It seems that no matter where you're from, there will always be some fight going on. But who's John?"

"John is…" He smiled, "Well, if I'm going to talk about John I want to make sure that everyone hears about him. So let's go have dinner because I think I can smell it already."

* * *

"Where am I supposed to sleep?" Aurdel asked.

"This way," Yuiyui said, leading him through the house and opening the door to one of the rooms. The room was rather small and appeared to only have a small amount of bedding in place. He stepped in. "My family and I are all fairly heavy sleepers, so don't worry about the amount of noise you make at night."

"Noise?" He turned, "Why would I be making-" The door shut before he could finish.

"Lock!" She cast a spell and locked the door, then walked away. Aurdel blinked. He decided to take a closer look at the room.

Taking a closer look, he found that Megumin was asleep in the room. Putting two and two together, he also found that Megumin's mother would probably qualify as a bad mother given what she wanted. So instead of doing what she was probably expecting him to do he just sat against one of the walls and closed his eyes. Time passed and he was unable to sleep, there was something off. Something in his gut was telling him that something bad would happen within the next few days. The feeling was similar to what Kurt had described his 'feelings' to him as, almost like a vague premonition.

He didn't know what to make of it though, he couldn't place anything that would happen or anything that would cause something to happen to give him that feeling. It could just be some inner cynicism clawing away at him from the inside but there was no way to be sure. He heard a yawn, he looked up. Megumin sat up from the bedding and stretched her arms, then looked around. "Aurdel? What are you doing in here?"

"Ask your mother, though that's if you can get through the lock she put on the door."

"She did what?!" Her voice raised with confusion.

"You can take your guesses as to why," he yawned. After that it was silent for a moment

"...You know, I'm fine with you sleeping in the bedding," she said softly.

"It's not like I need it to fall asleep, I'm more than capable of sleeping like this."

"Then why don't you come over here because I asked you?"

He sighed, stood up and walked over, "I suppose it wouldn't be weird since we're party members. But also because I'm old enough to be your father, it's like a child wanting to be comforted after a nightmare."

"Don't say it like that! I'm not that young…" she grumbled. When he laid down she seemed to ease up. She grabbed his arm and pulled up close, something rather odd. Then she whispered, "I win again."

Realizing what she meant, "Oh you little brat." The window was open, so he took his leave.


	21. Chapter 21

**...A Fatal Encounter...**

The next morning came quickly. Once it had, and once the door was unlocked, Aurdel went back into the home for breakfast. Rather than say anything and cause a scene at the table he kept quiet about last night and simply ate. He could tell that someone was staring at him expectantly but he paid no heed. Once breakfast was done both of Megumin's parents left the house for work. "Wait, they're just leaving your sister home alone? Without anyone to watch her?"

"It's what my parents did with me," Megumin shrugged, "It's not like she won't be safe."

"I think you're forgetting the fact that the village was just attacked yesterday."

"And it was thrown back, wasn't it?"

"Sure it was but that doesn't mean things won't change, complacency in anything can easily turn into death. I refuse to let your sister stay here alone."

"I want to go with white hair onee-san!" Komekko shouted, jumping up and grabbing Anatalia's tail. She was caught off guard by her and gave a little squeak, but then she grabbed her and lifted her up. The look in her eyes was that of a little kid who found a lost puppy and wanted to keep it. Seeing that a few things clicked in his mind and reminded him of something he thought about asking. Megumin's home was much smaller and much more run down than the rest of the homes in the village, that alone wasn't anything big. But her parents had made a big deal about the money his party had saved up, and before they'd left for the village Megumin had mentioned something about her father causing 'self inflicted poverty.'

"Say, Megumin, does your family have an issue with money?"

"We do," she looked slightly embarrassed, "Both my parents work but it's barely enough to support us."

"But how? Where does all the money go?"

"My father makes magic items, but items with major flaws. As a result not many people buy them, though apparently Wiz is one of the few that do and that encourages him to keep creating them."

"I see, that… that makes sense."

"I try to help by sending back money from quests, but I make sure it's not so much that my dad takes it to spend on the magic items he makes." This didn't sound like a very stable household. Were it not for the fact that Komekko only has family here and that he and his party were out of their home quite often he might have considered asking Megumin's parents to allow him to take her in. But if he couldn't do that the least he could do is send some food over if money would just be spent on useless items.

"Hey Megumin, can you show us around town? We don't come here often so I want to see some of the sights," Aqua said.

"Seeing sights won't be an issue, we can come back whenever we want with Yunyun's teleport magic."

"Sure but we're here now!" She shot back, "Besides it's not like we have anything important to do back home, there's only that dirty devil and Lich."

"Dirty devil I can accept, but dirty Lich? Wiz is anything but."

"Oh shut it you dirty undead lover." He shook his fist at her.

"I don't have any issue with showing you all around, there's a lot to see here after all."

"Okay then, are we all going?" Yunyun was off somewhere else, but then again this was her home village so she probably already knew it like the back of her hand.

"I heard the blacksmith here is extremely skilled, so I wanted to see what they could do with my armor. I'll come back here once I'm done with that though," Darkness said. That was fair enough, knowing her ambition to charge into battle and absorb as much damage as possible it was good to make sure that she didn't die.

"Alright then, Anatalia?"

"I'll go with you, and I'm taking this cinnamon roll with us," she squeezed Komekko. Alright then, that was all of them going along to see sights.

Together they left Megumin's home and began to see sights. Given the relative small size of the village most things were in close proximity to each other, something that would make the day a lot easier in turns of going around. The first place they went to was a shrine. "You have to be kidding me…"

"What? Is there something wrong with the shrine?"

"Yes, there is. It's the fact you've dedicated a shrine to this," the object in question was a plastic figurine of a girl with white hairs and animal ears.

"I don't know, I think I like it," Anatalia said with her tail wagging slightly behind her.

"You're only saying that because it looks somewhat like you."

"...is there something wrong with that?"

"No, but you want to keep your ego away from Aqua levels."

"I do not have an ego, I am a Goddess!"

"Yes, I see your point."

"Why won't anyone believe that I'm a Goddess?!"

"Eh… well, this object was given to us a long time ago by a traveller we saved from monsters. As a sign of their gratitude they gave us it, saying that it was worth more than his own life. So we built it a shrine in the hope that praying to it might yield some good fortune for our clan, built according to the design of the one that gave us it."

"Why is this piece of plastic getting treated more like a Goddess than me?!"

"Ask yourself that question since you're the one that sent the person who brought it here to this world." Aqua scrambled at him and tried to attack him, he just shoved her to the side. "Let's move onto the next thing."

"R-right." Megumin seemed shocked at how quickly he'd brushed aside something the clan had probably thought to be part of the pride of their village, but she moved on from it.

The next place they went to was a blacksmith. "Okay, now this is just plain theft."

"What is?"

"A sword in a stone? Let me guess, is the sword supposed to hold some extreme or holy power and only one worthy of wielding it will be able to pull it out from the rock?"

"...Yes."

"Was this the influence of another traveller?"

"No, it was set up by the town's blacksmith as an attraction. I don't know if it actually holds extreme power, but I do know that the only the ten thousandth person that tries to pull it out will be capable of pulling it out."

"So it's not even a proper ripoff."

"A ripoff of what? You're saying that but you're not saying what it's off."

"Excalibur, the Sword of the Stone from Arthurian legend."

"Oh I've heard of Excalibur, but I don't know what Arthurian legend is."

How could someone hear of Excalibur but not know any of the story behind it? Then it hit him, he turned around. "Aqua, did you and the other Gods made Excalibur one of the cheat weapons a person could take when they came here?"

"Sure we did, why? We only picked it out at random, I don't even know the story behind it."

"You idiot! Why do you have to take anything and ruin it?!" He shook her.

"I don't really get what the big deal is," Anatalia said, "It's just a sword, isn't it?"

"It's not just some swords, it's- Oh, forget it." He waved it away, "Is there anything else?"

"Well, there is the wishing fountain. People toss coins and weapons into it because legend says that if you do the Goddess of Gold and Silver might appear and bring you great wealth."

Weapons? "Who clears out the fountain?"

"The blacksmith."

"And what does he do with them afterwards?"

"He recycles them to make new weapons." Something told him that this village's blacksmith wasn't a very honest man, and that neither that sword or this fountain were special. Was there anything actually special to see in this village?

"...And this is the underground facility that seals away a weapon that might destroy the world. Not much is known about it aside from the fact that it was built at the same time as that facility over there." She pointed to massive factory-like building made of concrete off in the distance. Both these things certainly were different from the rest of what they'd seen so far.

"Any idea what that place is used for?"

"No idea, nobody can read any of the writing that we found during our investigations so we gave up and just call is the 'Mysterious Facility.'" What a joke. That was all besides the point though, given how different all those two places were he was going to make sure to investigate them himself and see what they might hold.

"Hey Megumin, is there anything else sealed away here?" Aqua asked

"Well, there used to be the 'Tomb of the Evil God' and the 'Place where the Unknown Goddess was sealed,' but as the latter name implies the seals were broken."

"Not only do I think that those names sounds like a lot of crap, but if the seals really were broken then I don't think this village should really be home of a weapon that might destroy the world."

"Don't worry, it's fine. The seal is written in that same unknown language as that other facility."

"You say this, but it gives me no greater amount of confidence."

"I just think you're being too much of a worrywart, nothing is going to happen."

"Right… Well, is there anything else that actually worthwhile seeing in this village?"  
"Don't say it like that, you shouldn't depreciate all the great sites of my home."

"All I've seen is two scams and a possible threat."

"...Then I guess not. Well if we're done sightseeing then there's a shop I want to go to while I'm here." And so they followed Megumin to this shop, turning out to be a tailor.

"Welcome," the owner dressed in long dark robes said, "Hmm… Megumin, are these outsiders?" She nodded. "My name is Chekera, I'm the owner of the number one tailor shop in the Crimson Demon clan village and a wielder of Advanced Magic!" He flicked his cape and performed a pose. Seeing that Aqua was about to do the same kind of introduction, Aurdel elbowed her. "It was satisfying to do that, not many outsiders come by here. Now, Megumin, how can I help you today?"

"I need spare robes," she tugged on what she was wearing to give the man an idea of what she was speaking of, "Yunyun gave me these but it would be more convenient to have something as a spare."

"Something like those… Yeah, I have a freshly dyed batch." He brought out a series of robes on a laundry pole, "How many are you going to take?"

"I'll take all of them, having more than one spare would be best."

"Ah, rich now are we? You must be doing well as an adventurer."

"Indeed I am, it's about time the village heard of my exploits. Aurdel, can you- Aurdel?" She called for him when she saw that he was staring at what was supposed to be a laundry pole.

"Hey, Chekera, can you take the robes off that laundry pole? I want to get a closer look at it."

"At the laundry pole? Sure, but I don't know why you'd want to do that." He pulled them all off, giving them a much better view of it.

...Yeah, that was a rifle. "Where did you find this?"

"The laundry pole? I didn't, it's a family heirloom that has been passed down for generations. We consider it a treasure since it never rusts."

"...Would you be willing to sell it?"

"Sell it? It's a family heirloom, why would I sell-"

"I'll give you two million Eris for it."  
"Sold," Aurdel handed over the money and the man handed him the rifle.

* * *

"I don't understand why you spent so much money on a laundry pole," Megumin said. After visiting the tailor they'd gone to a cafe and bought some food, bringing it with them to eat on a hill. Supposedly the hill they were sitting on was the 'Hill of the Demon God,' and that if someone confessed here and became a couple they would be forever bound by the curse of the Demon God. This was most likely a load of crap, as many other things in this village had been.

"Because it's not just some laundry pole, it's a weapon. I'll explain it later once I figure out what munitions this thing takes." It was odd, when he first saw it he expected it to take some form of physical munition given its obviously human firearm inspired design. But the way it was made offered no form of storage for magazines, rather it seemed more like it was related to Covenant weaponry and somehow supported directed energy.

In the end this would be something he'd figure out in due time. He looked off into the distance and saw Yunyun, she was coming out of her home. He waved towards her. When she noticed him on the hill waving to her she seemed to jump, and started sprinting towards them. He turned away and went back to figuring out the weapon. His eyes wandered all over the weapon. It's operation seemed simple enough, a single trigger. There was no bolt or hammer either, so there was one less thing for him to worry about if he was ever going to use it. Then his eyes wandered past it.

When he did he saw dark figures moving off in the distance near Megumin's house, he stood up. "Is something wrong?" Aqua asked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." He used his helmet's built in scope to get a better look at them. "Those are definitely forces of the Demon King, over there." He pointed towards them, Megumin looked over. "It doesn't look like anyone has seen them yet."

"I'm glad we took Komekko now," Anatalia said stroking the little girl's hair, "Who knows what they might have done with her?"

"I don't know… But Darkness is back at the house, and that's where those Demons are."

"Then we have to go and stop them," Megumin stood up.

They began to run down the hill towards Megumin's home. By the time they were running, Yunyun had finally made it over to them. "What's going on?" She asked, out of breath.

"There's another attack going on, we're going to go and stop it." Given his capabilities he eventually managed to make it far ahead of all the others and arrived at Megumin's house first.

As he expected Darkness was there and she was taking a beating from the Demons who'd broken down the fence. "Aurdel, you're here already?" She sounded disappointed. And he was just about to thank her for holding them up too…

He drew his sword. "So that's what you were doing, you were just wasting our time so others would come and help you. Smart." The person that said this was the tall woman in the red dress he'd seen previously.

"I'll take it from here Darkness," he moved into a combat stance.

"W-wait a minute, you're…" The woman said, "You're that adventurer Wolbach mentioned." He raised an eyebrow, even though she couldn't see it behind his helmet. "Yes, you're the one she said to be careful of. You're the one that fought Beldia, and you're the last one she saw when she warned Hans at Alcarentia. Not to mention, Vanir went missing after visiting the town you live in." She was extremely apprehensive in approaching him and took a few steps back. "It's troubling for someone like you to be here, but don't think I'll back down!"

"Then stop talking and start fighting." He charged forward and thrust his blade towards the enemies.

Right away he cut down two of the Demons that stood in his path, injuring a third. For some reason the woman took issue with that, he didn't expect a possible leader of the army held by a man known as the 'Demon King' to be sympathetic with those under her. He kept attacking regardless. This time he went for the woman since she too was an enemy, with swift movements she dodged most of his blows. But occasionally he would land one and cut deep into her body. Then out of nowhere she seemed to laugh, "You may be strong and quick, but I just found out how I'm going to defeat you."

"And how's that?" He pressed his attack.

"Your armor, it isn't like others sets of armor. Your armor is technologically advanced, and I can use that to my advantage."

He lept back for a moment as she tried to strike him, "As a Chimaera I can combine either myself or other with objects, organic and non-organic alike. Meaning that with the right touch... " She shot out towards him, "I can put you down!" He avoided her once more, but this time was forced against a wall on the outside of the house. "Take this, Conjoin!" Shouting some skill she managed to land a blow on him, then moved back. The pain that he felt was immediate and he fell forward. Every nerve is his body went off as he felt his body compressing inwards.

"Aurdel!" Someone shouted from the side, he couldn't make out who from his senses being so overwhelmed.

His bones and flesh felt like they were being crushed, his veins pressurized and ready to burst. His internal organs weren't in a much better state as one of his lungs collapsed and his heart rate increased dramatically. He would be dead within a matter of moments if something didn't stop this. Shakily he stood up and faced the woman, barely able to stand up. Blood was leaking out of his eyes and stained his face, pooling in the bottom of his helmet. "You're… you're not dead yet? I would've expected it to kill you almost right away." He wasn't capable of saying anything back, trying to do so only resulted in him coughing up blood.

If he was going to die, he was going to go down swinging. He lunged at the woman with unseen speed and struck several times. A few missed, but many hit. Then once he was able to he thrust Gram through the woman's side. She screamed out in pain, his arm seized up completely and yanked the sword out stopping him from turning it into a killing blow. She ran back from him with her Demons, "D-don't think this is the last you'll see of me!" Then they all ran off being chased by Crimson Demons. He stumbled backwards, his legs seized up. Then he fell over as his legs broke.

His party ran over screaming something, he couldn't hear them as his hearing failed him. They tried to pull his helmet off of him to no avail and ultimately ended up just shaking him. His mouth foamed and his vision began to blur in and out, his head was pounding. A voice sounded in his head, "_Free."_ After that his heart failed and his brain hemorrhaged. Aurdel was dead for the second time.

**...Another Chance...**

Aurdel opened his eyes, he was back in a familiar place. It was the same place he'd seen months ago when he died months ago on Reach. The room was dark with floating lights and a checkered floor, he found himself sat in a chair opposite to another. Unlike last time however, where he was greeted with a blue haired Goddess running late, he was met right away with a white haired girl dress in extremely conversatory angelic clothing. "Aurdel Ganowicz, moments ago you passed on from this world. You died protecting those you cared for despite everything that happened to you in your life. For someone like you to die is a true loss." She seemed to be genuinely sorry for him, something he hadn't had the first time he'd died. He felt around his body. Here everything was fine and he was out of his armor, but down there everything had gone wrong.

"What… what happens now?"

"You'll be reincarnated back to your own world as the one that you died in was not your own, you'd be given the life you never received." The life he never received, huh? Sounded too good to be true.

"And my companions? What will happen to them?"

"They will continue on with their lives as they can without you, you're unable to-"

"Hey Aurdel, I cast resurrection so you can come back now!" A familiar annoying voice said from somewhere above them.

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Aqua-sama, is that you?!" He shouted upwards.

"Of course it's be you idiot! Now come back over already!"

"W-wait," the woman there stumbles, "You can't resurrect twice, that's against heaven's rules!" Was it?

"Hey Aqua, the Goddess here says it's against the rules!"

"Huh? What stupid Goddess is saying that?!"

He looked to the white haired Goddess, "E-Eris."

"She says her name is Eris!"

"Eris?! The Goddess that thinks she's so important because a few people celebrate her here and named a currency after her?!" She looked like she was about to cry hearing that, "Aurdel, if she gives you any trouble then just take away her breast pads-!"

"Alright, alright! I'll make an exception! Jeez, Aqua-sama is as unreasonable as ever," she shook her head, "If you're going back then we're going to have to talk about that sword of yours eventually."

"Why would you care about…?" He got a better look at Eris, then it clicked. "Wait a minute, you're-!"

"I'll see you soon," she winked and a circle of light opened up underneath his feet, dragging him upwards and into the sky.

* * *

Aurdel woke up, his body was sore all over after what had happened. Even without opening his eyes he could tell that he was laying in some sort of bedding. He could also tell that he wasn't wearing his armor, or that at least it wasn't the top layer of his body. After all with what that Chimaera had said the implication was that he'd somehow combined with his armor. There was sobbing coming from next to him. He opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to the right, next to him was Megumin and Yunyun knelt with their eyes closed. By how puffy their faces looked and the tears on their cheeks, it was obvious that they were the ones that had been crying. "You know, I'm not dead." When he said that they opened their eyes and looked at him with disbelief.

"Aurdel!" They pounced on him into a collective hug.

"Woah, I get that what happened to be me looked pretty gruesome but I haven't been gone for that long. Have I?"

The others came running into the room hearing the commotion that was being made. "Aqua said that you were resurrected, and you were, but you didn't wake up right away so we got really worried."

"Onee-chan is awake!" Komekko leapt from Anatalia's hands and onto him, crashing hard onto his chest. He sat up so he could get a solid breath in after that.

"Then how long was I out for?"  
"You were out for a day," Aqua said nonchalantly, "And like the great Goddess I am I kept you healed the whole time, feel free to heap on your praise whenever you want."

"I'm not going to praise you for doing your job, but I will say thank you for resurrecting me."

"Eh, it's a start." Aqua seemed unusually okay with not getting an obscene amount of praise for once.

"You know, those two were by your side the whole time," Darkness said.

"W-we were not!" Megumin and Yunyun said at the same time.

"Is there really anything bad with keeping watch?"

"I-I guess not," Megumin said, "But if I did it it was only because Yunyun was doing it!"

"Why are you putting this on me?!"

"Look, you two can argue about this all you want later. Right now there are more important things to deal with. Where's the General that I was fighting earlier?" He stood up, forcing the three Crimson Demons to get off of him. When he did, he found that he was wearing nothing but undergarments.

"H-her name is Sylvia," Yunyun said awkwardly, trying not to stare at his mostly uncovered body. "And right now she's at her camp with her army."

"Then let's not keep her waiting, we'll attack her and put and end to this army."

"Are you really in the shape to do that?" Darkness asked.

"Whether or not I am, something has to be done about it." He looked down, "though I am going to need something to wear, I don't exactly want to go through unnecessary pain again."

"I have just the thing," Yuiyui said matter of factly as she walked in. He looked over, she was carrying a set of oversized robes. The same that the Crimson Demons wore. This would work.

He put them on, "Woah, Aurdel looks like a real Archwizard," Aqua said.

"As opposed to what?"

"A big green block of steel."

"You're lucky that I'm not in the mood to get mad with your comments. Everyone, we're going to assault their camp head on and clear their forces out once and for all."

"Isn't that really dangerous? We'd be extremely outnumbered."

"Who says we have to be outnumbered? This is a village of the world's greatest Mages, isn't it? And judging from what I've seen they're not the ones that back down from a fight." Realizing what he wanted to do there were grins all around.

"I'll go get my dad to summon everyone to the village center!" Yunyun said, and ran out of the room.

"By the way Aurdel, I figured out what that laundry pole you bought uses for ammunition."

"You did?"

"I did, it uses mana."

"Mana, huh? Well if all my things are still here, then we're in for a ride."

* * *

They were all gathered on the outskirts of the village, near the Demon King army's base in the area. In total they had a hundred of the Crimson Demons with them, the rest were all on alert back in the village in case they failed their mission. But at the front of this ragtag army was him and his party equipped and ready to fight. Aurdel and Darkness drew their swords, Anatalia her daggers, and Megumin, Aqua and Yunyun their staffs. He turned back, facing the crowd of Crimson Demons he had behind him. "Now! Are you all ready?!" There was a loud collective chant. He couldn't really make out what they'd actually said, so he just assumed it was one of approval. "Then we will march and show the Demon King what a really Demon fights like!" There was an even louder roar of approval after that, he thrust his sword forward into the air.

Within moments they arrived at the base of the Demon King's operations in the area. "Archwizards, your Detonation spells if you please!" There was a loud series of magic chants followed by a wave of explosions. They all connected and blasted the palisade walls of the camp apart, taking a few tents on the inside of the camp out with it. "Forward!" He charged forward ahead of all the others, charging deep into the camp and into the heart of the forces. While his armor merging with him had killed him, it had also come with a benefit. With how closely integrated both he and it were he was capable of completing feats he hadn't dreamed of before. With unparalleled speed he spun through the camp, decapitating Demons left and right with Gram in his hands. At the same time he used Drain Touch to take away their power and fuel the gun on his back.

The Crimson Demons and his party came charging in after him and went to work with brutal efficiency, each one was capable of handling no more than a dozen of the Demons at a time. Magic rippled out everywhere with lightning, ice and fire all over the camp as they fought through. At one point during the battle he'd caught up with Anatalia who'd managed to bind one of the larger Demons down, cutting it to ribbons with her daggers afterwards. He cast Create Water and Freeze on another one, setting up another kill for her as he raced off to keep the fight going. All around the Demon King's army was losing and it's camp was burning. "Damn you Crimson Demons!" A voice shouted out in the middle of the camp.

The voice was Sylvia as she faced down Bukkoroli and that woman he'd cast a spell with during the battle the other day. He charged forward, "I'll handle this!" Bukkoroli and the woman stepped back and let him move in.

"That voice! You're alive?!" Sylvia was shocked as he came in, striking blow after blow. Before she'd been able to dodge many of his blows, but now? Now she could barely avoid getting hit. Cuts traced her entire body and tore apart her dress.

"Of course I'm alive!' He threw down his sword and began pummeling her with his fists, taking her mana at the same time. "There's a saying about us Spartans, one that you should know about!" He kicked out her legs from under her and grab hold of her.

He spun her around, "One thing that everyone should know about Spartans!" He let go of her, throwing her into the air and preparing his fist. With his neural link he was able to change the intensity of his shields that were still active, even though he'd merged with his armor. He pushed it to overcharge on the area of the fist he was punching with, giving it a glowing effect. "Spartans never die!" She came down and he punched her with all his might. With the boosted shield and the might of his punch she went flying into the air howling with pain. Drawing the gun off his back, he aimed the barrel at Sylvia. The gauge on the weapon read full, he squeezed the trigger. A massive blast of light shot out from the weapon and struck Sylvia, putting a hole straight through her and ultimately obliterated her. The worst part of the battle was over, and the weapon gave them the fireworks to celebrate with.

* * *

"Well, this certainly was an interesting trip," Aurdel said. Behind him was wagons full of equipment and other technology. After the battle he'd taken the time to actually go to that place where a supposed world destroying weapon was hidden. Turns out that the supposed seal that was in place wasn't even magic, it was a simple keypad. So after some rewiring he was able to get it open. And when he did he was greeted with a treasure trove of technology from his world. Granted it was mostly tech from the nineteen nineties and the twenty first century, but that was better than absolutely nothing. So he took everything he could, aside from what appeared to be a metal serpent like weapon that turned out to be named the "Mage Killer."

Figuring that this was a village of Mages, he left it there and resealed the bunker. He didn't want to hear about how some idiot wandered in and ended up destroying the village in a freak accident. Though given how two supposed Gods were supposed to be sealed here and they were released it was only a matter of time before it did. "Say, Aurdel, how are we supposed to get all this stuff back home with us?" Megumin asked.

"What do you mean? We'll just have Yunyun teleport us back with all of it."

"U-um," Yunyun stuttered, "I can't teleport all of us and this stuff at the same time." There was silence, then a groan mostly from Aqua.

"Well, it can't be helped then. I hope you're all ready for the long trip back to Axel, by foot." A louder groan.


	22. Chapter 22

**...Peace At Last?...**

After the battle they had at the Crimson Demon village, Aurdel was hoping to get some peace and quiet. "Moi has just reopened this shop, so stop destroying the merchandise you Goddess of Misfortune!"

"Aurdel! Aurdel! Why is the only one who recognizes me as a Goddess a dumb Devil?!" Unfortunately for him that was too much to ask of the people around him. As Vanir implied Wiz's shop in Axel was finally rebuilt, restocked and reopened for business, Unfortunately for the Archdevil Wiz took it upon herself to invite ALL of his party to reopening including the aforementioned Goddess of Misfortune known as Aqua. The two angrily stared each other down at the shop.

"Say, Wiz, you didn't buy all these items from Megumin's father again did you?" He said while inspecting some of the things on the shelves.

"I-" She turned and saw Vanir give a stare of death, "I-I didn't, I listened very thoroughly to what Vanir-san told me to do and I b-bought useful magic items." Judging by the burn marks on her that advice had to get in through a different manner.

He grabbed Aqua by the ear, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"I don't feel like having to deal with another collateral damage terrorist incident, so I'm going to take us out of the picture before that happens," he began to drag Aqua away.

"Smart decision man of another world who has those romantically pursuing them but continues to refuse to share as to why he refuses their advances."

"Hey, Aurdel, what did Vanir just say?" Aqua said with sudden rapt attention,

"I didn't ask for comments. Also, I would appreciate seeing some form of appreciation for housing you-"

"Moi would not have stayed in your home were not for thou party."

"Then for the hospitality-"

"Moi was attacked day in and out by the rabid Goddess you should keep on a leash."

"I do not need to be kept on a leash!"

"Just show some gratitude."

"What would thou want from me? Thou already has enough saved to rival small nations."

"I don't need more money! I'd prefer if you taught me a skill or something of the like."

"Moi knows not what skills thou would actually be capable of learning, most would kill a mere human."

"The dolls, the exploding dolls."

"Ah, thou would be fully capable of learning that. First, release that pesky Goddess." Aurdel let go of Aqua's ear.

"Thank you! I never expected a Devil to-"

"Now watch," a pile of dirt rose from the ground and formed into one of those same small dolls.

"Hey, what is that-" The doll leapt up and onto Aqua and exploded, detonating with enough force to send her flying out the door.

"Hmm, useful."

"Indeed." They observed from the soot covered Aqua from inside the shop, Aurdel pulled out his card and learned the skill.

But after that they took their leave from the store, because he really had nothing pressing to do for the day that didn't matter to him too much. Rather he was going to take the opportunity to work on what he'd planned to. Based on what he remembered from the UNSC's designs and from his previous experience with working on them both in the field and during Spartan training, he was going to try and recreate the warthog. Though, he was going to have to make one that was longer so that he could actually fit all the members of his party in it. The hardest part he was going to have to do was making the actual frame for the vehicle. While he knew the general design of it he didn't have all the measurements for each part or the frame itself. This made things especially difficult since he was going to size up the whole vehicle.

Then again since he was planning to implement the weapon he'd taken from the Crimson Demon village it might be better to make the body of a Scorpion any build around the gun. That would take much more time and resources to do though so he wasn't exactly confident in that idea. For now at least he'd build the Warthog and make changes as need be. He did his work in the front yard of the mansion since there was really no space inside, it's not like there was a garage and even if there was he didn't want to fill the house with fumes. To start with, he went to the town's blacksmith and borrowed the forge. With its use he was able to produce several molds for the part that he needed along with the parts he needed to make the general frame of the vehicle.

Once he had those he was able to start putting it together with the tools he'd collected from the village. As he worked he noted that with these tools he might have been able to actually get the armor off of him himself, though that didn't necessarily matter since he'd already been merged with it. He still has some severe pains from the whole experience, along with the occasional splitting headache, but with Aqua's help he was usually able to keep it under control. Sweat formed on his forehead as he welded the parts together, he wiped it off. Once he was done with this he was going to work on how he would actually power the damn thing. Originally he was planning to just hook it up to his suit's reactor via wire, but that wasn't exactly an option now unless he wanted to perform surgery on himself and find out where it was. No matter what he wouldn't be able to rely on it in the long term anyways, as it'd force him to always be equipped.

The frame was mostly complete when he heard a voice near the gate, "Hey! Aurdel! Are you here?!" He put down his tools and walked over. "Woah, you're out of your armor? How did that happen?"

"It's a long story, now what do you want Dust? Are you trying to mooch off another drink trying to sleep with a person in my party?"

"I really wouldn't mind either."

"Tell me what you actually came here for or I'm having Luna put a bounty on your head."

"Jeez, alright." He shook his head, "Well it partially has to do with wanting to sleep with someone, though not someone from your party."

"This better be good," he opened the gate and let him in, seating him outside and bringing over a pair of drinks.

"I want to know how you got so many girls in your party."

"Oh this crap again, I've already told you there's no 'trick' to doing it. And the amount of whatever sex you have in your party doesn't matter, it's capability."

"Bullcrap! There has to be something you're doing!"

"Have you ever considered that you have to actually put effort into something?"

"Of course not! I haven't lived my life like that up to this my point and I won't change that!"

"Really? Well why don't you tell me how far that's gotten you. You're constantly in debt, constantly on the run from the town guards and are practically hated by your companions for how much trouble you cause and how much you owe them."

"That isn't true-!"

"Is it? Then why don't we go and ask them? We can walk down to the guild right now and I can ask them. What do you think they would tell me?"

"Fine! You win!" He slammed his fists down on the table, "Look I'm just… I'm just desperate, alright? Can you think of any way you can help me out?"

Aurdel folded his arms, "The best place to start would be focusing on improving yourself."

"Like how?"

"Combat skills maybe, you and your party did get chased down and have to be saved."

"Hey, that wasn't-"

"I wasn't saying that it was your fault you were attacked, I'm saying you should have been prepared to fight anything you encountered."

"Then how do I improve? I don't have enough skill points to level up my swordsmanship skills."

"Numbers and words on a card isn't all there is to fighting, even in this world. Follow me." He lead him over to a clear space.

"You said you fight with swords, right? Show me how you fight." Aurdel threw Dust a sword, not Gram though. That was his.

"Alright old man, prepare to be amazed!" He watched as Dust took the sword and got into a horrible mockery of a combat stance. Then he watched as Dust wildly swung in some imitation of actual swordplay. It was as if he'd picked it up by practicing with a large stick… Wait a minute… Aurdel watched Dust's movements closer. The way he fought, it wasn't suited for a sword. It was suited for something else though.

"Stop, give me back the sword."

"What, was it really that bad?" Dust handed him back the sword, "I think it's the sword's fault anyways, if I had my trusty sword I really would have-"

"Be quiet for a moment," Aurdel raised a finger, "You don't really fight with a sword, do you?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I do! I think you're just being-"

"No, you don't. You're refusing to use the actual weapon you're good with," he saw Dust begin to sweat nervously.

"Oh yeah, and why do you say that?"

"Because of the way you fight. Here, I think you'd be better accustomed to fighting with this." He threw him a long metal rod this time.

"W-what's this?"

"You tell me. Here, hit these targets." Aurdel picked up some wooden block he had cut out and threw them into the air towards Dust. The man missed every single one of them, but it was obvious that he was missing on purpose. "Hit. Them. Or else I'm going to make you admit your secret by prying it out of you, I know what points on the body hurt the most if they're hit."

Dust gulped, Aurdel threw the wooden blocks again. This time Dust struck every single one of them. He even speared through one of them. Yes, speared. "So, are you going to admit it now?"

"Admit what?"

"That you were lying that you're a swordsman? And that you're better with a spear?"

He threw the pole down, "Damnit, I didn't come here to do this. I'm-"

"No, you're not leaving because I'm not going to let you. You agreed that you were going to improve yourself."

"I didn't agree improve to jack-" Dust tried to walk away, Aurdel struck him in the Solar Plexus."Damn!" He keeled over, "What was that for?!"

"For trying to give up. Now, admit it."

"Fine, alright, I'll admit it," Dust sat up holding his gut, "I'm much better with a spear, but I don't like to use one because of a vow I made a long time ago."

"And this is where we begin," he took Dust up from the ground and back to where they were seated before and handed him his drink. "You don't think it would be good to utilize the skill you have with one?"  
"I already told you, I made a vow-"

"Vows are only as good as the people that make them, and the man you act as isn't the kind to keep any vows. "

"Then what the hell do you want me to do?!" He slammed on the table again.

"Start being the better man, show what you're actually capable of. Do you want respect? Do you want money? Do you want women? Then proven that you deserve it!" He practically shouted in his face to get the point across. Normally he wouldn't get this sort of heated but knowing the kind of man Dust was it was all the more important for him to do something about it.

"Damnit… You're right." His fist clenched, "As much as I enjoy putting up this act sometimes it gets me into a lot of crap. That needs to change."

"Good, good. To make sure that happens you'll go with me on the next quest that happens, I'll make sure you can show off." He extended his hand out to Dust, "All you have to do is put in the effort."

"Damn right am I going to put in the effort," he took Aurdel's hand and shook it. "Now if we're going to go on a quest together, why don't we-?"

"Alert! Alert! All Adventurers please grab all your equipment and prepare to defend the city at once! An army of the Demon King is on it's way to attack the city! All civilians must evacuate out of the city and to a safe position! I say again, an army of the Demon King is on it's way to attack Axel!"

"What the hell?!" Both of them shouted at the same time.

**...Saving Axel!...**

"AURDEL GANOWICZ YOU BASTARD! COME AND FACE ME!" A familiar voice bellowed. Somehow, only God knows how, Sylvia had survived. Or, she'd come back from the dead. Regardless of how she'd done it she'd come back for bloody revenge. The form that she took was that of a massive amalgamation of three of the Demon King Generals they fought up to this point: herself, Hans and Beldia. He knew this because in his downtime he'd actually done some research into who each of the Generals were, discovering that Hans hadn't been just a man but rather a massive poisonous slime hiding in the form of one. So he knew that he was part of the amalgamation just from the amount of what appeared to be slime making up the form that Sylvia took.

And the reason he knew that Beldia was part of it was because the form had a massive version of his head, along with various metal plates identical to the armor he'd worn and a sword to match his own. But that wasn't the only threat presented to them. Alongside the massive beast that stood before them and approached Axel was a massive army of Demons and Undead. It'd most likely been summoned by Sylvia's now combined strength. This was really bad, he needed to organize a defense fast. He ran to the front of the pack of Adventurers where his party stood waiting for him, Dust followed him there. "Aqua! I need you to make it so everyone is able to hear me!"

"Got it!" There was panic in her voice as she cast the support spell on him, making him loud enough for everyone to hear even over all the ruckus being made.

"Listen up everyone! This situation may look bad, but I have a plan!" He didn't really have one. He had a general strategy in mind but not a plan, but that wasn't something he was going to admit aloud. Morale was always and important part of battle and not having some plan of battle would cause it to plunge, meaning that even if they had the strongest adventurers they could easily lose. "I need all of the Mages, especially the ones that can use Advanced Magic and the spell Bottomless Swamp in particular to go with Yunyun! Thieves, you'll go with Anatalia and support the Mages! The Mages will cast spells to catch as many of the enemy forces as they can, but if anything isn't caught then the Thieves will set up traps just outside of the range of the magic to catch them! Move, quickly!" A large group of people ran off, following the two people from his party down to the frontlines.

"I need all Archers and Rangers to be ready with as many arrows as possible! Any enemies that get caught in the traps but don't die are yours to take, move quickly!" Another group of adventurers ran off to get into position and attack the enemy. "I need all fighters to step forward!" A large majority of the adventurers stepped forward. "Half of you will leave to cover the evacuation of the town's citizens, make sure no harm comes to any of them!" That group of adventurers rushed off, "The rest of you will follow Darkness to the front lines and take out anything that hasn't been caught already! I want the clerics to follow them and pick a group of fighters to support, it doesn't matter if they're in your party or not!" The large group ran down with Darkness. He didn't always trust her, but he knew that if push comes to shove she can give it her all.

"Creators! We're going to do the same trick we did against the Mobile Fortress Destroyer! Find the blacksmiths and artisans and get to work!" Those people ran off to do their thing. Two others came running out to meet them.

"Aurdel! We came to help!" It was Wiz and Vanir.

"I need to know what you all can do," he said quickly. He needed to get information out of them fast or he wouldn't be able to use them in this battle before they lost.

"I can use any kind of Advanced Magic! I can even use Explosion!" Wiz said quickly. She could use Explosion? Come to think of it, it made sense given that she was a Lich. "But my best skills are with any form of magic relating to ice!"

Ice? He could make use of that. "Aqua, can you summon large amounts of water?!"

"Of course I can! I'm a-"

"Good, I don't need to hear about why you're able to do it. I just need to know that you can do it! Aqua, Wiz, try and encase that thing in as much ice as possible to slow its advance! Vanir, I need you to support the smiths and Creators in making bombs to use against the army Sylvia brought with her!"

"We got it!" Aqua and Wiz both shouted before running off.

"Moi is more than capable of performing such a simple task," Vanir floated off.

Out of those in his party who stood here, there was only Megumin and himself with Dust who was still tagging along. "Dust, I need you to go down there and support Darkness for now. But when I need you to come running you need to act as quickly as possible, got it?"

"Got it boss," he ran off spear in hand.

"Megumin, I need you to charge up your biggest and meanest Explosion yet. Get in a good position for it too."

"I won't disappoint Aurdel!" She ran off staff in hand. He stood alone near Axel and watched the initial first steps of the battle begin to play out.

"Luna, you should get going. I don't want you to get caught in any of the crossfire here."

"Are you sure you can handle this?" She approached him, "I mean, I know you can handle it. But…"

"I know what you mean, but I'm willing to give this my all no matter what. If it takes my life then so be it."

* * *

"Everyone, cast your spells!" Yunyun shouted. "Bottomless Swamp!" The mages with her that could do the same cast the same spell. Ripples of purple-black holes filled the plains around Axel, she and the others watched as hordes of undead and demonic creatures charged forward and fell into the pits. Then once they were in they sank to their deaths, drowning in the swamp. She appreciated how much trust Aurdel had in her, but at the same time it made her worry. She didn't know if she would be able to live up to expectations. She- No, she had to be confident! If she wasn't going to help win this battle to defend Axel then she was going to do it for him! "Free Mages, use Fireball to pick off those monsters behind the swamps!"

"Fireball!" A wave of fireballs flew out from behind her as the Mages who hadn't been able to use Bottomless Swamp cast their spells, fire rained down on the Demons and Undead that had managed to avoid falling in and set the grass around them ablaze. A wall of arrows shot out from behind the lines of the Demons and Undead.

"Use Wind Curtain!"

"Wind Curtain!" A wall of wind appeared in front of them, sending all of the arrows flying in random directions and away from them.

"Wire Trap!" Yunyun heard someone shout, she turned to find that it was Anatalia and all the other Thieves. As Aurdel had planned they were setting up traps in front of the swamps to catch anything else that made it past them.

Something about this all, even if the situation was dangerous and extremely tense, put her at ease. Having all these people around her that trusted the same man, the one that she trusted and wanted to be with, gave her confidence. If she just did as he would do then they would get through this. Her resolve strengthened! "Lightning Strike!" She summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky and wiped out a group of undead and Demons.

* * *

Dust was on the frontlines with Darkness and other fighters, they were covering the flank that wasn't entirely covered by the swamps of the mages. What was Aurdel exactly expecting him to do? Sure he could use his spear extremely well up close, but what was that going to do to help them against the giant monster they were bound to fight? He personally had no idea what they might do, but he would leave that part up to him for now. He just needed to perform the job that was given to him for now. He thrust his spear forward and tore through three undead knights, then brought it hard to one side and split apart a Demon that was coming close to him. Fighting like this made him remember how much he missed those days.

Maybe… Maybe if he did this he could bring those days back, live the life he was originally meant to live! If he could do that then everything would turn out just fine for him. He wouldn't need to worry about debts or anything like that, he wouldn't even have to worry about getting involved with the guards constantly! His resolve was steeled. This battle was all he needed to focus on now. He charged forward and speared through another three Demons, forcing more backwards and into one of the Bottomless Swamps.

* * *

Darkness didn't know what to think. She knew that Aurdel often looked down upon her, mostly for what she found pleasurable, but despite all that he'd charged her with holding an important position in the battle against these forces of the Demon King. Part of her was occupied, wondering what hard and vicious enemies she might encounter, their brutal strength trying to strike her down as she resisted. But the other part of her was occupied with Aurdel's motives. Could there be something that he wanted from her? Maybe he gave her the position because he knew she might fail, leaving her stripped of her gear and ravaged by the enemy left only as an example of those who stood against the Demon King.

The thought excited her, to have a man who put up such a noble front to possibly have such vile real intentions was ideal for her. Those men who lied to the world were often the worst behind closed doors, the kind to abuse her with all their might and to their heart's content!~ She could hardly keep herself under control even in the presence of a battle right in front of her, it was all too enthralling. But if she were to expose such beastly desires from him then she would have to do as he expected, to defend this section of the line with all she could give. And yes, she would give it her all! She simply must find out what he really wanted of her!

* * *

Personally, Anatalia didn't care what happened to the people around her. That feeling went even a little ways for the party she was a part of. Sure they were her party, but they weren't her family. The thing that mattered most to her was finding her younger sister someday and living out the lives they were supposed to. But if she was going to do that then she was going to have to leave this place alive, and that meant fighting not only for herself but all of those around her too. "Wire Trap!" She set out more traps, catching Demons in them. With the targets trapped she threw a series of daggers and tore them to ribbons from afar. But regardless of even her own goals she still had to complete the job that Aurdel had given to her.

Aurdel, that man. He hadn't even known her for more than a few minutes before he allowed her to join his party. And that was even with all of the warnings she'd given regarding her past and the bounty on her head. Maybe that made him different, but all that she knew what that it made her trust him. To some it might seem naive for someone to accept a wanted criminal, but to her being accepted by him was the ultimate form of trust. He was confident, but he wasn't brash or egotistical. And that was all for good reason, from everything she'd seen he was as capable as he thought of himself if not more. Knowing that made her only trust him more. She'd fight this battle, for him, for herself and for her sister.

* * *

"Hurry up you dirty Lich!" Aqua shouted running across the grass with Wiz in tow.

"I'm sorry Aqua-sama, I'm not as fast as you!" Wiz wasn't out of breath but she certainly was by no means as fast as her. After all she was a Goddess so she had to be the best in all there was. Looking at her made her a little annoyed though especially with the amount of trust and respect Aurdel gave Wiz rather than herself. She really couldn't understand it, why would a Lich get preferential treatment to a Goddess? But maybe this was what she needed to really get through to him!

Yes, she would give him a performance that would blow his pants off! "Alright Wiz, let's see if your puny undead magic can match up to the magic of a Goddess!

"Aqua-sama, please don't call my magic-!"

"Sacred Create Water!" She summoned a large torrent of water from the sky and clouds above, it pouring down atop of the weird looking undead, chimaera slime thing that was attacking Axel.

"Cursed Crystal Prison!" Wiz used her dirty magic and froze the holy water that she summoned, encasing the thing in front of them in a large block of ice.

"Yeah! Aurdel, did you see that?!" She turned around quickly, trying to get Aurdel's opinion on what she'd done. Ah, he wasn't here right now. He was off doing something else… What was he doing? She didn't know, but she really didn't care. All she cared about right now was getting the proper praise for her actions as a Goddess.

* * *

Megumin prepared herself, "Fufufu, this is bound to be my biggest Explosion yet. And on such a big target no less." She looked at the monster that Aqua and Wiz had encased in ice, it was massive and no doubt yielded a large amount of experience. No doubt it would also give her a title that no other could hold, one surpassed not even by dragons slayers. Aurdel had a plan though and as much as she wanted to blast it right away she knew that she had to hold back from doing so. She watched as the gliders that Aurdel had instructed the creators and smiths to create soared out from Axel and to the front lines of the battle, diving down to attack the Demons and Undead of the enemy lines.

When they hit the ground they exploded violently, taking out groups of enemies at a time. Each time she saw one she squirmed a little, it made her want to use her Explosion magic more and more. Each one only pushed her drive more and more to do it, eventually it was too much. "Oh I can't wait anymore, I just have to do it. Explosion!" A swirling blue magic surrounded her and her staff atop the hill, then it blasted outwards. It hit the wall of ice that was encased the massive beast that came before them. There was an ear-piercing shattering noise as the ice broke like grass and collapsed in a huge wave of dust, dirt and bits of ice everywhere. She felt satisfied.

* * *

"Damnit, I only told her to get ready. Not to actually use her Explosion spell on Sylvia now!" He needed to think. Megumin didn't have the mana to force another Explosion, neither did Wiz. He nor Yunyun, Anatalia, Darkness and even possible Vanir had the power to take it down either. He looked down at the frontlines. For the most part the smaller forces were wiped out and it was mostly a job of cleaning them up, meaning that the Mages were mostly going on the offensive now rather than the defensive. Okay. He had an idea. "Fighters!" He shouted with all of his might at the top of his lungs, "Spread out across the lines and ensure that nothing passes through! Mages, I want you all back over here right now! Wiz, Aqua, Dust, you come over here too!" There was a massive stampede as large amounts of people shifted across the plains to their new positions

All the mages, including Yunyun, came over, so did the other three he'd called over. This situation would be do or die for Axel now. It had to work, or the city would be lost. He was getting a splitting headache because of all of this but he fought through it. "Yunyun, I need you to go over to Megumin and prepare one of your most powerful spells. And tell Megumin to get another of her Explosions spells ready, we're going to give her a boon."

"I-I got it!" And she ran off as quickly as she could.

"Wiz, as much as I don't want to do this you're going to have to collect our mana."

"B-but Aurdel, I-"

"They're going to need it if they're going to defeat that thing, I'll deal with the aftermath."

"O-okay!" She seemed hesitant to do it, but she trusted him. A massive glowing ball appeared above her in the air, purple magic swirling all around her and the other mages.

"Aurdel, what am I going to do?" Dust asked him.

"What are you going to do? You're going to do the most important part, we're going to strike at the belly of the beast." Wiz took mana from him, Aqua and all of the mages nearby. The sheer amount of it was overwhelming and caused sporadic bolts of lightning to strike out from the sky. If this wasn't going to help them win, then he didn't know what would. "Alright Dust, get on my shoulders." He helped him climb up onto him, Aurdel was much taller than him after all. "Wiz, how are we doing?"

"We're almost…. Done!" Aurdel felt a bit weaker after having his supposedly extremely large mana pool trained, but it was going to be put to good use here.

"Send it over!" Wiz shot the ball of mana across the plains and towards Megumin and Yunyun who were expecting it. He began to run towards the newly freed Sylvia.

He could hear Yunyun and Megumin's chants from here, "Power… Surging!" A little glowed where the two Crimson Demons stood, shining like a pillar of fire rising to the heavens.

"I am Yunyun! Greatest Archwizard of the Crimson Demons and Axel!"

"I am Megumin! Greatest Archwizard of the Crimson Demons and Axel!"

"Together, rival or not, our combined power will defeat any foe that stands in our path!"

"Together, our power will defend the righteous and stop the rising tide of any battle!" A tear went down Aurdel's face. A little girl and the one she'd bullied were working together, as real friends. It made him proud!

"Light of Saber!" Yunyun's overcharged attack struck out first

"Let's the storms blow and let the flames of the inferno roar! My magic, the greatest of all offensive magics, will put you down. Burst forth, Explosion!" Megumin's struck out next, the two attacks combined and shot towards Sylvia at the same time.

There were sonic booms as the magic crossed the plains towards Sylvia, but at the moment before they struck her she held her arms out. A barrier rose. "Damnit!" Dust shouted, looking at what had happened. "What do we do now?!"

"We do what we were supposed to do!" Aurdel threw off the robes that he was wearing, he'd have to pick them up later but that didn't matter. He didn't want to burn them up completely. Despite the pain that it caused him he activated the thruster pack that had integrated with his body. Even with the horrible burns it gave him he shot forward into the sky towards Sylvia.

"YOU ADVENTURERS WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME, YOU WILL NEVER BE SAFE AGAIN!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, "THE DEMON KING WILL DEFEAT YOU, ALL OF YOU!"

"There!" Aurdel shouted, pointing at a spot in the in air. "Arc it towards there in the air! Trust me!"

Dust hesitated for a moment, then he felt the resolve him him. "I won't disappoint!" Dust drew his arm back, then tossed his spear!  
The two of them fell down towards the ground, Aurdel made sure they didn't kill themselves in the fall. He began to run. Moments later the spear hit it's mark, Sylvia let out a wild howl of pain. The barrier fell and both Megumin's and Yunyun's spells hit, blasting the massive beast that she'd become away. Aurdel managed to run quick enough with Dust on his shoulders so that they weren't obliterated in the blast. They safely got away. Once he got back to where all the others were he let Dust off his shoulders, then collapsed backwards onto the grass with a sigh. "You know, sometimes I wish we could go a day without something insane happening." First there was a laugh, then a thunderous roar of approval and cheering. They'd won the battle this time. God almighty knew how much he wanted a break from all this though.


	23. Chapter 23

**...Pressing Issues...**

"Aurdel, what are you doing?"

"Waiting."

"For what?"  
"Someone, I'm supposed to talk with them."

"Is that why we're not taking quests?" Darkness asked.

"It is, but even if I wasn't waiting for someone I don't think we'd be taking quests for a little bit. As much as I need action to keep me going, recently I just think I need a short break."

"I suppose you are right… The battle the other day and the fight at the Crimson Demon village were somewhat stressful endeavors. But we can't laze around for too long, there are strong monsters to be fought!"

"Don't put it like that, it's not lazing around. It's self care. And stop that constant thinking about how you can be hurt by monsters, I"m almost sure that with that attitude you'd scare even Brutes from my world."

"Brutes?"

"Yeah, like their name implies they're big, tall, hairy, dumb, smelly-" He stopped, "What a minute, why the hell am I telling you this? You're drooling right now as I list things off!"

She caught herself and wiped her mouth, "N-no I'm not!"

"Aurdel," Megumin asked, "Why don't you tell us more about the world you're from?"

"Because there's no real point to doing so."

"Why do you say that?"  
"Well I'm not going back home anytime soon, am I? Nor are you all somehow following me there. Besides, even if I wanted to you wouldn't get half the things that I was talking about. There are some things that have to be seen and experienced rather than heard."

"I suppose you're right…"

Yunyun spoke, "If you're not going to tell us about those things, then why don't you tell us who Clementine and Aric-" There was a knock at the door, Aurdel stood up. "Why does this keep happening whenever we ask about them?!"

He opened the door, Chris was there. "Took you long enough."

She folded her arms, "I was busy with some things. Talk here or somewhere else?"

"Somewhere else, we'll go into town." He stepped out and shut the door behind him. The two of them left the home and began to walk towards Axel. "So, what is this about?"

"Like I said, part of its about that sword of yours." She pointed to Gram resting on his hip. "Mitsurugi is dead, you know."

"He is?"

"He is, he and his party got wiped out trying to get started again."

"That's a shame, but I don't see what this sword has to do with it."  
"When we send people over from your world to this world we give them a cheat power, ability, set of equipment-"

"Or a whiny Goddess."

"Or yes, in your case, Aqua-sama. But the issue is that once a person dies or finishes saving this world, those things are supposed to return to heaven."

"I see, physical equipment doesn't exactly go back if someone else has it or it's been lost."

"Correct, that's why I was trying to take back the sword from you."

"You could have gone about it in a better manner, one that wouldn't have me stab you with your own weapon."

"I didn't know how you'd respond, or whether or not you'd give it back at all. "

"It wouldn't have hurt to ask," eventually they made it into town and sat down at a cafe. They ordered something to drink and eat. "So what, do you want it back still?"

"Preferably yes, I'd take it and drop it off at heaven once I go back."

"Then I'll need something to replace it."

"That shouldn't be an issue, you have plenty of money saved up. You can buy another."

"Another like this one? Somehow I doubt it."

"Maybe not the same exact one, but I'm still going to need it back," she sighed.

"But why do you need it back? I"m sure there are plenty of other things you can give people you send here."

"Actually… that's the issue." Hmm? "People have been unwilling to come here since you took Aqua-sama with you." Their orders came in.

"Do you really need to send more people here though? I don't normally try to be egotistical but before I came here none of the Generals of the Demon King were dead, no one was any closer to taking out the Demon King."

"It's more in the sense that with the amount of people that are dying, we would expect at least some to take the chance to come."

"I know the war is still going on, but why would anything change recently?"

"It… It came to Earth." He froze, he gripped the drink in his hand.

"Can you please repeat that?"

"Your war found its way to Earth." He… He couldn't believe it, "I see that look in your eyes, I know what you're thinking. There's no way to send you back to your world, at least not permanently." He stood up from the chair and leaned over the table.

"If there's any way I can go back, at least temporarily, I need you to tell me."

"There is, but I'm only going to give it to you on one condition."

He already knew what it was. He took Gram off his side and placed it onto the table in front of him, "Tell me."

"Good," she took the sword off of the table. "Wiz went behind Vanir's back and bought a magic item recently, "That item will help you go back." He dropped the money to pay for the meal on the table and ran off, he had things to do now.

* * *

"Wiz?!" Aurdel burst into the shop, "Where are-?!" He stopped, Vanir was standing in the middle of the shop wearing a pink apron over his usual… attire? Body? Whatever, he was holding a box in his hands. "Vanir, where is Wiz?"

"Hmm? The gullible owner of this magic item shop is currently recovering after my punishment of her. She kept up her habit of bad judgement regarding magic items with a great deal of uselessness."

Aurdel pointed to the box in the Devil's hands, "What is that one supposed to do?"

"She said this was a device capable of taking a group of people to another world. Unfortunately the item has a twenty four hour time limit, nor will you be able to hold onto the memories you make while in that world.

"How much is it?"

"In order to recuperate the loss from this shopkeeper's exploits, moi would have to charge two million eris-" Aurdel pulled out the money. "Moi did not expect you to agree so readily, allow me to peer into your mind to see what you really hope to gain from this exchange." Vanir set down the box and put his hands up to where his eye would be, it glowed a bright red. Aurdel took the box and set the large purse of coins down on the counter where Vanir would be able to take it. "Fuhahaha! Moi understands it's now! It is a shame I did not see this sooner, moi would have charged thou a much higher price for this device." He left the Devil to his own amusement and went back to the mansion.

To make sure nothing happened before it was supposed to he locked the box up in his room, then went downstairs. The others were still lazing around in the main room. "Alright, plans have changed for today."

"They have? I was just starting my bubbly too," Aqua said, disappointed.

"You can drink as- No, I won't say that. You can have it when we get back from our trip.

"Eh?! Another trip?!"

"Where are we going?" Anatalia asked curiously, she swept her tail upwards.

"We're going to the world I came from."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Megumin asked, "I thought that the way you came here was because you died, so how are we supposed to go there?"

"Don't worry about that now, I have a way to go there. But what I do need is for all of you to prepare for it before we go."

"Prepare? I don't see why we would need to prepare for this trip."

"No, you do. The Covenant found their way to Earth. You'll need to pack extra food, water, weapons, armored up versions of your normal clothes. Everything like that. The twenty four hours we'll be spending there could easily be the most dangerous of your lives, and I don't plan to lose any of you to the Covenant."

"...Lose any of us?"

"Make no mistake I would've preferred to go alone, but I know that you wouldn't have let me."

"That's right!" Yunyun said, "We're a party and a party has to stick together."

"Right, and I know that better than anyone. But if something were to happen I wouldn't forgive myself."

"Don't worry about us," Darkness said, "With you around I'm sure that no harm will come to us."

"I wish I had your confidence in saying that, because I made a promise that sounded like that to someone else a long time ago. But forget it. You still need to get ready for the trip, and I have some things that I need to prep before we go too. Just come back here when you are ready." After that they all dispersed and went to their rooms to get the things they needed. Aurdel rifled through his things, there was a lot that he would have to bring with him. For one, he grabbed his dog tags as he would have to prove his identity to any servicemen he met while he was there. He also grabbed a stack of papers he'd been keeping in the desk in his room. Some of them were charts, some were maps, some were blueprints with instructions and some were lists of codes. All of these needed to be passed on to the right person.

After having those down he made sure that all his equipment was ready. Since he'd just given away Gram he was going to have to rely on the original shortsword he had when he started out in this world, if something happened to that he'd just temporarily borrow something from Darkness. Then again he most likely wouldn't need to for long since there were bound to be plenty of weapons lying around. That was the reason for why he wasn't going to bring the hand cannon he'd made with him. In fact, if he could, he was going to bring back as much as he can with him. He had bags with him ready for that, if he could bring back as much as an armory's worth there was a lot he could do. Next he had to pick his clothes.

While he had been wearing those robes from the Crimson Demon village recently they would be too much of a liability while he was on Earth, something as loose as them could easily get caught hinder his movement. That was something he didn't want to happen when he fought the Covenant. Theoretically he could quite literally go in nude and fight like that, while his armor and undersuit weren't exactly visible they still existed under his skin and provided him some form of protection. Granted any skin or hair would be burnt away when hit by plasma and he'd still feel the pain, so it wasn't exactly a foolproof idea. But it was one he wasn't considering anyways. Instead he picked some clothing that was light but form fitting, one he could easily move in and adhere things to. While he was there he was going to try and pick up some armor, from the dead if he had to. Something was better than nothing.

Once he had everything he needed he went back downstairs. Darkness was the first one ready, followed by Yunyun, Anatalia, Megumin and lastly Aqua. Darkness' armor had much heavier looking plating, while it might inhibit her movement by a little it was better to at least be able to take a single hit rather than none. She was also carrying an extra sword along with a shield, both should come in useful. Yunyun had what looked like chainmail underneath her regular clothing, probably not the best but it was better than nothing. Anatalia meanwhile had padded her clothing with something, he didn't know what it was but again it was better than nothing. Megumin's entire body was covered as opposed to the usual dress that left parts of her body like her legs exposed, somewhat better. Then there was Aqua… "Aqua, you didn't even change anything about your outfit."

"Was I supposed to?"

"Yes! You were! This is probably the most dangerous trip we're going on and you're not taking it seriously?!"

"Why should I? I'm a Goddess for crying out loud! And besides I know what Earth is like, so don't tell me how I should act when we go there."

"Take this serious you idiot!" He went up and shook her, "You might think you can handle it, but you can't! The amount of people that have died in the war is too high and I don't want you becoming just another number out of all the statistics!" The room was quiet.

"Waaaah! You yelled at me for no reason!" He let go of her.

"It's not for no reason you idiot. At least put these on," he threw her a jacket and thick pants.

"Why should I?! It'll cover up my godly beauty!"

"Godly beauty won't protect you when you're up against an alien threat hellbent on the extermination of humanity!" He shook his fist at her. Eventually he gave up on causing trouble and slid them on. Aurdel brought out the box and placed it on the table in front of them. "Put all of your hands on this, but don't touch that button." They did so. He put one hand on the box and held the other over the button. "I"m going to say this now before we get there, you all have to listen to everything I say. One false step while we're there and you might go from being with the living to becoming nothing more than a pile of ash on the ground. And if you don't believe me about how dangerous the Covenant is now, you will once you see what they do. Let's go." He pushed the button.

**...Going Home...**

"Welcome to Earth, specifically the city of New Gdynia on the east coast of the URNA. As of twenty five forty three it had a population of roughly two million. How many of those two million are still alive…? Only God knows." They were on Earth now, they'd come in the middle of a Covenant attack. They stood in the middle of one of the city's freeways, burnt out cars and debris surrounded them. His party members look in awe, horror and shock all at the same time as they observed the city around them, as massive as it was, burning.

"What… What destructive force could do this?" Darkness asked.

"The Covenant, all of it." He lead them down the freeway towards what had been a UNSC checkpoint and defensive position. Sitting there was a Warthog.

It was one of the transport variants so it would have enough seats to carry them all. Granted, they wouldn't be going with its previous passengers. He heard Megumin gag and stop herself from throwing up as they came closer. The Warthog's driver was shredded and blown apart by a needler, what was left of him was splattered all over the inside of the dashboard and the seat. The man in the passenger seat wasn't in much better shape with his upper half essentially burned away by plasma rounds and his left side shredded from the shrapnel that had come from the needler blast. In the back had been already injured men, ones that had clearly bled out a long time ago. They'd all sustained wounds plasma rounds, a few even had spiker rounds embedded in their bodies. It was an awful sight.

One of the dead marines was cradling an MA5B when he'd died. Aurdel took it from his hands with the magazines. "I won't let your lives go to waste," he closed the man's eyes. He took all of the Marines out of the Warthog and took their tags, they would be remembered. Graciously he took one's helmet, then took the chestplate and shoulders pads of another. Eventually after stripping them of the armor he had a full set of plating on him. He gave them a salute. "Alright, let's go."

He climbed into the driver's seat of the Warthog. Megumin sat in the front passenger seat while everyone else in the back, doing anything else would screw up the already poor balance of weight on the transport. Aurdel turned the key. Luckily the Warthog was still in working order and the engine came to life. He started driving along the freeway, slowly. As they passed they could see the bodies line the path. Dead Marines, civilians Unggoy and Sangheili were everywhere. They even passed by the smoldering wreck of a Scorpion tank, this one had been destroyed by the fuel rod of a Banshee. "How… How are they capable of so much destruction?" Megumin asked.

"Technology is advanced, the Covenant's is more so. They use that to their advantage. They gun down our men, civilians, shoot down transports and burn worlds. Almost nothing in their path survives, aside from either a strong or lucky few." He shook his head for a moment but didn't take his eyes off the road, "At least, that was the idea." He turned and took a left, he knew the route to where he wanted to go. The sounds of firefights could be heard all throughout the city, but as they drove one in specific could be heard coming closer and closer. He drove and rounded a corner, then stopped once he thought going any further would put them all in danger of being spotted and killed. He left the engine running, then climbed out and held the MA5B.

"We're going to have to sneak up on them. Yunyun, cloak us. Lurk!"

"Light of Reflection!" Invisible, they followed Aurdel's lead. Since his helmet had also been integrated with his body, Aurdel was still capable of using its functions. Therefore he still had his heads up display and motion tracker available to him. So when they moved in closer he was able to see what exactly what they were dealing with. Twelve hostiles, three alive friendly IFF tags. He led the five members of his party up stairs to higher ground. From there they were able to see the actual fight going on. He looked out the balcony. Two Sangheili, three Kig-Yar and seven Unggoy were pinning down a group of Marines. The marines were all huddled by the burnt out wreck of a warthog, presumably the one they'd originally come in on. There were around a half dozen dead marines in the area surrounding them.

"I need you five to stay here, I'm going to rescue those Marines."

"Shouldn't we come-"Darkness was about to propose them coming with him, but he wasn't going to hear any of it. He let go of their hands and leapt down from the balcony, tuck and rolling down onto the concrete below. He felt a little pain from it but it wasn't anything substantial. Knowing which target's he'd have to focus on first, he open fire. The three Kig-Yar were caught off guard by his attack and were unable to turn their shields fast enough to cover themselves from the oncoming hail of bullets, all three went down. With that one of the Sangheili and three of the Unggoy turned towards him and switched their direction of fire to him. Aurdel rolled into cover.

As they fired towards the top of the barrier he'd rolled behind he peeked out the side, firing controlled bursts at the legs of the Unggoy. He hit two of them, causing them to fall and be hit in the head by another burst of rounds. He heard a swish, the activation of a plasma grenade. As the explosive came soaring overhead and behind him he leapt out of cover, firing a burst into the remaining one of the three Unggoy shooting at him. He switched his aim quickly towards the Sangheili as the Unggoy went down, it's shields took the rounds. The moment he hit the ground he charged towards the Sangheili and weaved between the shots of its plasma rifle. Once he was in close proximity he dealt a right hook to the Sangheili's face and grabbed one of its mandibles, his other hand forcing the plasma rifle away from his body.

He tore the armored mandible off the Sangheili's face, causing it to roar and loosen its grip on the plasma rifle. With the opportunity now available to him he tore the weapon out of its hands and spin kicked the alien temporarily stunning it and knocking it back. As soon as he had it leveled he opened fire and gunned the Sangheili down, turning the weapon on the other Sangheili and Unggoy. With the tide of the skirmish turning the three Marines peeked out of their cover and too opened fired. Within moments the remaining hostiles were gunned down. He policed the weapons of the dead Covenant forces and motioned for the three Marines to come out. "I don't know who you are, but you sure as hell are a godsend," the lead Marine said.

"Senior Chief Petty Officer Aurdel-009."

"A Naval rank and a Spartan tag? You sure as hell don't look like one with that getup."

"Situation necessitated it," he pulled out his dog tags and showed them to the Marine. That along with his own IFF tag would be enough to clear him.

"Well I'll be damned, a Spartan. Sergeant Harland, these two are Lance Corporal Fincher and Walker." The three of them gave him a salute.

"At ease, what are you three doing so far out here?" Aurdel to looked where the others were standing and motion his head for them to come over. They came over uncloaked.

"Well we came down here we all the men you see around us as part of force recon, looking for places where the Covenant were in the city. Unfortunately they found us first and ambushed us."

"I saw a Scorpion on the freeway, is there an armored division in the city?"

"Negative, it's the Second Armored Company under Captain Denton. They're working with us from the Forty Sixth Regiment and the Army boys at the Thirty Ninth Brigade."

"What about air support? Anything still up?"

"The bee net is still buzzing, but the Thirty Fifth Air Wing got smashed so all we have left is AMX-Thirteen and Twenty Three."

"Thirteen has tilt-rotors and Twenty Three has Pelicans, right?"

"Spot on sir, though about half the birds in Thirteen are down."

"I'm going to have to borrow one from Twenty Three's flock, give them authorization code Sigma Delta Omega Zero One Three Seven Two Five Nine."

"On it sir, it'll make sure the seats are warm for you as soon as we meet up at the rally point." The Sergeant opened his comms with command, Aurdel walked over to his own group.

Yunyun spoke quietly, "Aurdel, I've… We've never seen you fight like that."

"Yeah, you fight hard but we don't normally see anything like that," Megumin said.

"Circumstances change everything. Where you're from most of your fighting is close range, here it can go from close all the way to super long range." He looked around, "None of the Covies had needlers on them and only a few of the dead are too badly shredded. Aqua, do you think you can try and resurrect some of Marines?"

"I can try, but I don't know how well it'll work here." Clearly this all had shaken her, as her cocky attitude from earlier was essentially gone. She walked over to the dead and began to work her magic.

"Aurdel," Anatalia asked, "How many people have died in this conflict?"

"The only proper answer would be too many. If you wanted an actual number, I couldn't tell you. With all the planets that have been lost, along with the loss of Reach, it would be in the billions. The closest guess I could give you is around twenty billion, but with all I've missed it could easily be more."

"So much death…"

"Yeah, all in the name of the Covenant's holy war. I protect the lives that I can and honor the ones I can't."

He heard hacking, coughing and wheezing behind him, along with general confusion. Aqua had done as he'd asked and revived the Marines she'd could. They didn't know what to think when they found themselves clear of any wounds, but still having plasma scarring and holes in their armor. "What the hell?" Sergeant Harland said while walking over, "I said you were a godsend, but I didn't expect a literal one."

"Today's different, it won't be a common occurrence Sergeant, what's the status on that bird?"

"It'll be ready for you at the rally point like I said sir, but there's a lot of fliers in the air. NAVCOM is telling us that there's a city closing on the city too, but they can't get a lock on it with the Orbital Platforms without causing a mass amount of collateral damage."

"Then I suppose we'll have to deal with it ourselves. Sergeant, grab the tags of the ones we couldn't revive and get everyone to move out."

"Got it sir," he ran off and gave the order. Aqua came back over, all the Marines grabbed their gear.

"So Aurdel, where are we going?" Megumin asked.

"We're going to make one stop on our way to the rally point, a house. After that it's a sprint to the rally point and making sure we can take that Cruiser out of the sky before it can bombard the city."

"Cruiser? Bombard the city?" Darkness echoed, not understanding the terms.

"Cruiser is a type of Naval vessel, one with plenty of armor and plenty of weapons. As for bombarding the city they might do it with Pulse Lasers or go the full mile and use an Energy Projector. Either one is bad news, so I won't explain the rest right now. What we have to do now is move"

Aurdel walked over to the overturned hog the Sergeant had come in on. The vehicle wasn't going anywhere, but it's mounted gun and ammo were still in relatively good shape. He pulled it off it's mount and adhered the box full of ammo to his side. "Marines, our primary objective is to make it back to the rally point but we'll be making a detour along the way, we'll pick up any other units we find on the way back. Am I clear?"

"Sir yes sir!" With quick cadence they responded. Good.

"Good. We're Oscar Mike, move out!" He signalled forwards and the Marines fell out weapons in hand. "We'll be leading the way with the Warthog, so we need to be careful."

He led his party back to the transport and started down the road again, this time with support behind him. The fires in the city kept burning around them. They would go out eventually, but not today. As they went down the road they encountered the occasional squad of Covenant infantry. Sometimes it was a mixed group of Sangheili and Unggoy, other times they have Kig-Yar with them. Regardless he and the Marines cut a path through them all. Dealing with infantry was the least of their problems though. "Banshees, fast and low! Bail from the Hog! Marines, spread out!" Two Banshees came in down the road. He and the others leapt from the hog, though Megumin didn't get very far. One of the Marines had to shove her out of the way. The poor bastard didn't make it though, all that was left off him when the smoke cleared was a black imprint on the ground where he'd been standing.

"Everyone get into cover!" He unslung the LAAV, tracked the Banshees and opened fire. The hail of rounds trailed the banshees, striking one of the grav propulsion pods on the right most Banshee. It spun out of control and plummeted into a sign, detonating upon collision in a blue explosion. He turned as the other Banshee came in for another pass.

"Light of Saber!" Yunyun called out. Yellow light appeared and cut through the second Banshee, it detonated midair.

"What the hell was that?!" The Marines were astonished, "Some kind of thumb of God?"

"Classified, let's keep moving." The Warthog was hit on the first pass, so they were going to have to go on foot from now on. He made sure stuff a bag full of whatever parts that weren't wrecked though.

The rally point was miles away from where they were, but the place that he wanted to stop by wasn't far off. After passing nearly a dozen city blocks they were almost there. "Sergeant, I need you to hold this position while I investigate my secondary objective. Put some men there and there," he pointed to two positions on either side of the street where they'd be able to defend from. He knew that place in specific like the back of his hand.

"Got it Spartan," the Sergeant said, turning to his Marines. "You heard the man! You four, over there! You four, with me!" They spread out.

"Aurdel, where are we going?" Aqua asked.

"Home," he kept going down the sidewalk and surveyed the street.

There were wrecks all over, if they had made it with the Warthog up to this point they'd have to abandon it. Coming up was a corner, he peeked around. Brutes. In a window of one of the homes there was the barrel of a Sniper Rifle. Damnit, there wasn't anyone at it though. That wasn't a good sign. "I need you all to move up on the right side, I'm going to attack the Brutes from the left. See that house?" He pointed to the house with the rifle barrel sticking out, "You need to make it there while I deal with them."

"Are you sure you don't want help?"

"I have it, I'd rather I die than any of you. Now move it." He motioned for them to move as soon as he popped out around the corner.

He sprinted as quickly as he could and went for the Brute closest to him. Leaping up, he jumped onto it's back. Before it could react to his attack he pulled out his Combat Knife and plunged it through it's eye. It roared in pain and alerted the others in the short time it had before it was brain dead. The others turned, he grabbed the dropped Carbine from its hands. The Brutes opened fire and Aurdel dashed away. Spikes and red plasma trailed him as he ran, diving behind a destroyed car. He primed two of the plasma grenades and tossed them over, the firing stopped as the Brutes moved to avoid the blast. He peeked out of cover and opened fire with the Carbine. These Brutes were different from the ones he'd fought, they had power armor, but he picked his shots carefully. Once their shields were down he'd aim for the slits of their eyes. He dropped two the Carbine, another two failed to get out of the range of the grenades.

With the carbine out of ammo he tossed it aside and went back to his MA5B. He jumped over the car and opened fire, quickly bringing down the shields of another Brute. He ran up close and pulled out the shortsword he was carrying with him, jamming it through its neck and kicking it over. Three explosive rounds barely missed him and landed somewhere off in the distance. Close one. He took another plasma grenade and threw it in the direction of the Brute that'd just fired at him. Rather than let it reach them and detonate there however, he shot it in the air with his Magnum. Using the cloud of dust and plasma to get in closer he assaulted the Brute. With an uppercut he temporarily disoriented the Brute, long enough for him to reverse its grip on the Brute Shot and jam the blade into its stomach. Then he emptied the remaining mag into its head. There was only one left.

Smash! The concrete and pavement where he'd just been standing was crushed and went flying, the same would have become of him had he not moved in time. The last of the enemies here was a Brute Chieftain, one wielding a Gravity Hammer. It swung again, he leapt to avoid it. He'd have to get the weapon out of its hands before he could even try killing it. Since the road was destroyed, he had access to dirt and sand. Using the skill Vanir had taught him he created several small dolls that leapt onto the legs of the Chieftain. It tried in vain to shake them off as they blew up, disorienting it. He ran up to it, it swung wildly.

Aurdel jumped over one of its swings, landing on top of the hammer after another and stomping it down. It shook the ground around both of them as it hit down and forced the Chieftain to let go. He sidestepped another wild swing with its arms, hitting it away when it tried to grab the Gravity Hammer again. Then he grabbed the weapon, swinging it with all his might and sending it crashing into the Brute. With the first swing its armor broke, he swung again. That time it went flying off and broke through a wall, it was dead. Gravity Hammer in hand and MA5B on his back he ran over to where his party was standing. "Damnit, the doors broken down!" He ran inside the house, they followed in confusedly. "Clementine! Aric!" He shouted out.

He tore his way up the stairs and through various rooms, hoping for the best. Eventually, he went to the room he knew the Sniper Rifle was in and kicked down the door. "No. Damnit, no!" He blinked away tears, his party ran up the stairs and eventually made their way into the room.

"Aurdel, what's going-" Yunyun started to say.

He turned, pointing his MA5B at Aqua. She instinctively rose he hands, "RESURRECT THEM!" He shouted, pointing one hand at the two bodies lying against the wall

"C-careful Aurdel, we wouldn't want to do anything hasty," she stammered out.

"Resurrect. Them," he uttered again. She trembled as she walked over to the two bodies, the rest of his party stared in fear.

Aqua did her magic, and the two began to move again. He kicked her aside and ran up to grab the two, embracing them in a hug and crying. "Who…?" The woman started, "A-Aurdel? Is that you?!"

"Dad?!" The young boy said.

"DAD?!" His party echoed.

He nodded his head. "That's right. Aric's my son, Clementine's my wife.

**...Letting it All Out...**

"So then, what's your name?"

"It's Clementine, Clementine Goldrow."

"Ah no wonder you yourself looked familiar then, I heard about it. Saw your face on Waypoint."

"Did you now? Well tell me, how do the pictures in the news compare to the real thing?"

"Doesn't do it justice, especially that hair of yours."

"Really now? Why don't you get a closer look." She leaned in close, so did he. He couldn't resist, there was just something there… Something about her that drove him wild.

"Hey you two! Get a room," the bartender said.

* * *

"And so we did, and that's how Aric was born." He put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I think I'm going to throw up hearing something so lovey dovey," Aqua said, holding a hand over her mouth.

"Don't you dare, you have no right to judge."

"Aurdel, who are all these women?" Clementine asked.

"It's a long story. But first, we need to get you and Aric out of the city. There's a Cruiser closing in on the city, most likely going to bombard it." He let go of them, letting them stand up.

"A Cruiser? I thought the orbital grid would have shot them down?"  
"That's what I would've thought too, but I got here not long ago and apparently that's not the case. That's why we need to get out of here."

"Is there anyone else with you besides them?"

"We saved a group of Marines, there's nine of them. We're on our way to a rallypoint where there's a Pelican ready for us."

"Alright." she nodded her head. "There's a few things I need to grab first."

"I know, we'll be downstairs. Aric, stay with mom until she's ready." Aric nodded, Aurdel and everyone else went downstairs.

"Aurdel, why didn't you want to tell us until now?" Yunyun asked.

"I didn't want to open old wounds until I at least got to say goodbye to them. I don't want to leave them for another nine years without at least that.

Ten minutes passed, both of them came downstairs. Clementine was carrying a bag, her rifle and a box of rounds, suited back up in the outfit she took out to the range with beret and all. "Just like old times, isn't it?"

"Sure is, but this time we're hunting lizards and monkeys instead of pieces of paper. Alright, let's move." Aurdel led them all out of the house and back out onto the street. They met back up with the Sergeant and his men.

"No sign of any hostiles sir," Harland said.

"Good, I got what I came for. Let's hump it to the rally point, double time. I'll take point." Aurdel took lead of their ragtag bunch, the Marines forming defensively around both his party and family.

They didn't encounter much on the way there, though, as the Covenant were pulling out. Why that was became evident once they got close to the rally point. The sky was turning a dark red. "Damn, I was right. Double time isn't enough, we need to hoof it! Megumin, you're with me!" He scooped the Crimson Demon up and ran with her.

"What's going on?!"

"The Covenant's about to try and glass this city and right now there's no damn support to call in to take it out. We only have one shot or else thousands of us are going to end up dead." He leapt over wrecks and debris, he was going to need a high vantage point for them to get this.

"Sir?! Where are you going-?!" One of the Marines at the rally point tried to stop him as he clambered over one of the barriers.

There were observations towers set up all over, those would have to be good enough. He went up the stairs then clambered onto the side, getting up onto the roof. "I need you to get your spell ready, but only fire it when I tell you to!" The ship coming close to their position was a CCS class battlecruiser, one of the common ships in the Covenant's fleet but tough. The midpoint on its belly was charging up with a fiery red glow. When Covenant ships fired their weapons they had to lower their shields, this was no exception for the CCS class. "Hold it." The charge on its belly continued growing, they'd have to wait to get the perfect in. "Hold it!" Megumin looked anxious to cast. The glow was at its brightest point. "Aim for the light on the ship's belly and let loose!"

"Explosion!"

Megumin let loose her Explosion, light soared over the water and towards the ship. Moments passed by and as soon as the ship was about to begin glassing, her magic hit. A massive Explosion hit spot on and dissipated the charge. The energy projector was destroyed, but that wasn't all. It's engines flared on and off as it struggled to keep afloat, then it began to plummet. Before they knew it the Covenant ship slammed into the sea, there was a roar of approval from everyone at the rally point. He climbed down with Megumin from the tower and met the others. He handed her over to Yunyun.

"What now?" Anatalia asked.

"Now? Well, I'll start by making up for lost time." He led Clementine to the Pelican and closed the bay door behind him…

* * *

It was odd. Vanir had said they wouldn't remember any of it, but it was like they'd never left. He was still standing in the main room with his hand over where the button had been, he blinked. He really couldn't remember any of it and by the looks of the faces on his party around him none of them did either. "Did… did we already go?" Darkness asked.

"I think so but… Aurdel, why do you have a kiss on your cheek?!" Megumin asked. He ran his hand over his cheek, red lipstick. He knew who used that color. Ah, so he really did make it. That was all the confirmation he needed. Aside from that the bags that he'd previously been holding that were empty were heavy now, most likely fill to the brim with weapons and parts. He walked away. There was a piece of paper stuffed into one of his pockets. He unfolded it.

"_Don't worry about us, Aric is a strong boy like his father and I'm still a crack enough shot to take out any spook that looks at us the wrong way. And Paxton will get all the papers, I promise. I wish it didn't have to be like this but I would be lying if I didn't say the time we spent together was the happiest of my life. So go and make someone else happy. -C"_

Aurdel smiled.


	24. Chapter 24

**...A Royal Invitation…**

"I wonder if I'll be able to find anyone here who can replicate these parts…" Aurdel muttered quietly to himself. He was taking apart and putting back together the guns he'd taken from Earth to make sure they were all in perfect working order, Megumin was watching closely. He'd demonstrated earlier what they did and now she didn't want to take her eyes off of them. She seemed to think that he would replace her with the guns, an irrational thought. To be perfectly honest she was irreplaceable, having a large damage dealing explosive available on command at least once a day was a boon and one that couldn't be easily exchanged. Sure there were better and more consistent ways of dealing damage that would be better for outright battles, but when you find yourself against large armies, powerful Generals and massive constructs it was the best way of getting through. So he made sure to reassure her that she wouldn't be replaced.

He had just finished putting a DMR back together when he heard a knock at the door, both of them looked up. "Megumin, you didn't blow up someone's property again… Did you?"

"I did not! Why are you trying to blame me?!"  
"Then if it's not you…" He looked towards Aqua, "Aqua, what did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything! I've been playing this game all day!" That's right, she had been. He'd even tried pulling her off the couch to do something, resulting in her dealing him a 'God Blow.'

"Is someone there?" The voice behind the door said, still knocking. Aurdel stood up and walked over, opening it. "Good day sir, I presume that you're the owner of this mansion? And that would make you Aurdel Ganowicz?"

"Correct on both accounts."

"Oh, good. Then-"

"Hagen?! What are you doing here?!" Darkness charged towards the well dressed middle aged man.

"Ah, Lady Dustiness, it's good to see-"

"I told you only to come to the mansion if there was an emergency Hagen!"

"Ack!" Darkness clamped her hands around the man's throat and shook him, "Lady Dustiness I assure you this is valid visitation!"

"Drain Touch!" Aurdel touched Darkness and she let out a gasp, releasing her grip on the man's throat. Hagen dropped to his knees and gasped for air.

He cleared his throat, "Ahem, thank you. As I was saying this visit is properly justified. I bring you a letter of great importance." He held out an envelope to Aurdel, he took it from his hands. Carefully he undid the seal, not wanting to tear it or the letter inside. He unfolded the paper.

"'To the one who has defeated countless foes, numerous Generals of the Demon King and innumerable contributions you this nation, Aurdel Ganowicz. I have heard many a story about your great accomplishments and hoped to meet the man behind them face to face. It would be this kingdoms honor if I was allowed to do so, may I have a meal with you. Signed Iris.'" The bottom of the letter was stamped with the seal of some noble house. "Hmm, this does seem rather important."

"Rather important is an understatement, Princess Iris is part of this nation's royal family!" Megumin shouted, Anatalia seemed to shudder at the idea of dealing with more nobility.

"Then I suppose we can't refuse this invitation, can we?"

"Of course not!" Aqua shouted, "This is our chance to cozy up and get rich! Then we'll spend the rest of the time on this world relaxing while other people with the Demon King!"

"It was a rhetorical question, but hearing your input I might actually reconsider."

"I think this is a great chance for Aurdel-san to do some great good!" Yunyun said, "With the support of the Princess you'd be able to get a lot of changes done!"

"Hmm…" That is true, with her help he might be able to organize the guild into a formal fighting force.

"Aurdel, the Princess is not an object to be used!"

"I'm not using anyone Darkness, calm down. Look, we were invited so we're obliged to come. It'll just be a dinner and nothing more, after that we'll come home just fine."

"Aurdel, what should I do for my party tricks?" Aqua asked, "I wanted to pull a tiger out of a handkerchief but none are around, so I was thinking about using a Rookie Killer. What do you think?"

"I think you shouldn't try anything insane like that! The last thing we need is for you to do some stupid trick and get someone important killed. You're not to do any tricks."

"Ehh?! Why?!"

"I just told you why! And Megumin, the same warning goes to you too.

"Eh?! Wh-?!"

"Because while you might indulge in it here, it won't be acceptable to do those Crimson Demon intros of yours in front of the Princess." He looked around. Yunyun and Anatalia wouldn't need reminders, and Darkness should know herself what bad form around nobility was.

"I suppose I should start getting myself ready for it now, you can never be too prepared." He thought for a moment, what was he supposed to wear? He had no manner of formal wear to speak of. For the majority of the time he'd spent in this world all he had on was on was his armor, and the clothing he had now was just for practical use or casually wearing around the mansion when they weren't busy with a quest or something else. The best thing he could think of to wear to an event like this would be a suit but he owned nothing of the sort. And judging by how small everyone else in this world was, he severely doubted that he would find anything his size to wear. He supposed he just had to tailor one himself. At least he had some time, this was supposed to be in a week.

* * *

Sooner than expected, a week passed by. Aurdel had in fact tailored himself a suit, though it ended up being a bit tighter than he would have preferred. Though that was in part due to him hiding several items on his person to bring with him inside the meeting. He was sure that he didn't need them, but in case some crazy happened, and they typically did, he would be prepared for the worst. The place this meal was going to be held was at the Dustiness' mansion in Axel. He'd seen it many times before, but never had he actually associated it with Darkness or her family. The feelings she usually gave off weren't very noble even if she was supposed to be.

"Aurdel Ganowicz, ladies, we are honored by your visit. I, Dustiness Lalatina Ford, will be your host for today. Please treat this home as if it were your own and enjoy yourselves." Darkness gave a graceful bow. She was wearing a pure white gown, one that gave off a strong appearance of elegance. To match her dress she had her beautiful blonde hair braided and draped over her right shoulder. With the way she appeared now it was hard to imagine her as anything but a noble. Unfortunately, all it did was cover up her rotten personality that she normally showed to them

He bowed, "Of course. Thank you, Lady Lalatina." He saw a slight twitch from her and her cheeks slightly reddened, apparently she didn't enjoy being called by real name. ...Or did she? He didn't know. And it was hard to say that he wanted to know what was going on in her head, be he REALLY didn't want to know.

She lead them all into the house. While he had his suit and Darkness had her gown, none of the others currently had anything nice to wear. They hadn't had enough time to get dresses made for themselves so were going to borrow from Darkness' own wardrobe. He waited outside as the others clattered about and made noise trying clothing on, the house help bringing him tea as he waited. Their conversations were… amusing. "Hey Darkness, the waist on this dress is really loose. Do you have anything tighter?"

"I'm afraid I don't, that dress had the slimmest waist. A Crusader must be properly muscled to do their job. And Megumin, what's the problem?"

"I don't know what to say, but… it slipped right off. Both the waist and chest are much too big, is there anything smaller?"

"I do have others, but this one is from when I was a child. So- Ow! H-hey! Megumin! Don't pull on my braid like that!" He looked at the two helpers standing outside the door to the room, they had their heads bowed down. Personally he couldn't tell if they were ashamed, disappointed, embarrassed or all the above. "Eh?! Anatalia?! Why are you taking a dagger out?!"

"I can't keep my tail in a dress like this, I need a hole in the back."

"No, wait! Don't!" He heard the sound of a knife cutting through fabric and a whimper from Darkness.

"There, much better. I might even keep it once we're done here."

"You'll have to because of that hole!"

"In that case, can I try on some more of your dresses?"

"Absolutely not!" He heard the sound of a dagger being ripped out of someone's hands and being thrown across the room, shattering a glass. All they were doing was changing clothes, how could they cause so much chaos?

"H-hey guys, how do I look?" Yunyun asked.

"Not nearly as good as me," Megumin said proudly.

"You don't have to be so r-rude! Why don't we go ask Aurdel who looks better?!"

"Wait, what crazy thing are you saying now?!" He heard stampeding footsteps, trampling and eventually falling. Of course, none of them had most likely ever worn high heels aside from Darkness and Aqua.

He looked at the helpers again. Yes, it was definitely a mix of all three feelings from them. After a considerable amount of time they eventually did come out from the changing room, all five of them in dresses and gowns. "Well, how do we look?" Aqua asked. To begin with, Aqua was wearing a pure white dress rather than her usual blue outfit. With her hair down she looked regal, the way one would actually expect of a Goddess. Unfortunately that feeling completely went away when he spoke. Anatalia was wearing a white outfit too, though this one was more akin to a ball gown. The flowing and sparkling nature of the gown matched well with her tail, moving softly behind her. Yunyun was in white as well, contrasting beautifully with her dark black hair and red eyes. He could tell she felt a little shy as he looked at her.

Megumin meanwhile has chosen to be the quite literal black sheep of the bunch, picking a black dress. But though it did stick out from the others given that they'd all picked white dresses, it did work for her. The light and almost pale nature of her skin made for a good contrast, making her appear more as if she was a doll rather than a person. "You all look beautiful." There were varying responses to it. Megumin, Darkness and Yunyun all seemed to blush, Anatalia looked prideful of herself and Aqua…

"Thank you! It wouldn't kill you give more compliments you know."

"Except you Aqua, you look awful."

"EH?!" Not really, but he'd say that just to spite her. "How dare you, you shitty-!"

"Aqua please, behave!" Darkness said, trying to help Aqua get a grip. Instead Aqua physically got a grip on her, "Ow! Please don't pull on my braid!"

"But Darkness, he said I wasn't beautiful!"

"OW! I said stop! Don't pay attention to that!" She tore Aqua hand off of her hair, "We have a meal to attend and we all must be on our best behavior." The others nodded. "Good. Now Aurdel, are you ready?"

"I have been, I've been waiting out here for who knows how long."

Ah... " She seemed a little ashamed with how long it took them to get dressed, "W-well, we must head down now. Please allow me to lead the way, and I'll do the talking." And with that they left the reception area and walked down the halls of Dustiness manor. All over was elegant artwork, tapestries, carpets, chandeliers, everything you'd expect from the home of a noble.

But eventually they came before a set of two large doors. "I want to make sure everything is clear before we go in. Aqua, you are to perform no dangerous tricks of any kind. Those are banned. And Megumin, I don't trust you so I'm going to search you now!"

"Ah?! Why?! And don't do this now, Aurdel can see everything!"

"So Aqua, what were you planning to do?"

"It's nothing like Darkness was implying. Meeting with royalty is a chance few have, so this is something rare for us. But to the Princess it'd just be another boring dinner, so I'm going to make a sand painting on the spot and gift it to her!" A sand painting, huh? For an idiot she seemed to be artistically gifted.

"Aha, I knew it! Your chest was much too large, you were padding it with a smoke bomb and an explosive potion."

So, Megumin was carrying a bomb with her? He wanted to criticize that fact, but he'd be a hypocrite since he had a sheathed combat knife and grenade wedged between his-

"Fufu, you're good Darkness. You may have taken those from me but I still have several manners of performing a grandiose introduction!"

-and an M6D on his-

"No grandiose introductions!" Darkness shook Megumin to get the point across. The helpers near them looked disappointed and hoped to not be implicated with whatever mess they were about to cause. "Again, please, don't cause any trouble. Simply eat and nod your head, allow me to speak." That was simple enough for the others, especially if Aqua got completely wasted and passed out.

Eventually they opened the doors and walked into the dining hall. The room was set properly for the occasion, red carpets lining the floor, candles and fancy dishware sitting upon a large table and a large crystal chandelier hanging overhead. "I apologize for the wait, Princess Iris. These are my friends and comrades in arms. Right this way my friends. This is the first Princess of the kingdom, her Royal Highness Iris. Please introduce yourselves with proper etiquette." Darkness gestured towards those that sat on the other side of the table. At the far end of the table were three women, all with blonde hair. He seemed to notice a pattern, all three of these women has blonde hair. It seemed to be a common occurrence with nobles in this world. Darkness, Dust and now these three. Odd…

The first of the three women was the youngest and stood in the middle, covered in a white dress with a not too dissimilar look from Darkness. She was the Princess. Looking at her she could be no more than twelve, if it weren't for the fact that she was standing before him he would've found it hard to believe for such a young girl to act as an arm of the royalty. On her right was a woman in a plain black dress, unarmed. Presumably she was one of the Princess' bodyguards though, as the woman to her left was one in a white suit with short hair and sword at her side. In the end it is how he roughly expected nobility to look.

He bowed and was about to introduce himself when Aqua began before him, "I am the great Archpriest Aqua, I am honored to meet you. Please, allow me to perform a-"  
"Excuse me Princess Iris, there is something I must tell me companion." Darkness pulled Aqua away, who began pulling on her braid in protest. Meanwhile, Megumin was now taking the opportunity to cause a ruckus. She pulled something off of her thigh and placed it upon her shoulders. Darkness yanked her away too. Aurdel watched as the three of them struggled with each other, Yunyun and Anatalia unsure of what exactly to do given the situation. The Princess leaned over and whispered to the woman in the white suit.

"Plebian man, the Princess has said not to look at her with such an intense glare. Normally it is impossible for a lowly commoner such as yourself to have dinner with royalty due to your lowly status. Lower your head and do not meet with my eyes. Now hurry up and finish your greetings so that you might tell me your stories of adventurer," the woman in the suit said, quoting the Princess. Haha, what was that? He heard Aqua whisper something to Darkness, followed by a small gasp from the latter.

She rushed over to him and whispered in his ear, "A-Aurdel, please try to keep your calm."

He put on a fake smile and whispered back, "I'll keep it as long as I can manage. But then again, I'm not the one you should be worrying about."

Darkness looked around and saw Aqua making her sand painting. "Your Highness, to commemorate this day of our meeting I would like to present you with this. You'll find that the details of this painting are exact, even the tiny bit of sauce on the corner of your lips has been rendered perfectly." Iris frantically wiped it off her lips, Darkness moved frantically.

"Allow me to apologize Your Highness! Allow me to remove this insolent-!"

"Because the Princess saw the Lalatina acting is such a frantic state, a great deviation from her usual calm and quiet self, she will not pursue the matter. It is permissible for Adventurers to have some manner of crudeness. So instead of arguing, allow us to hear your tales of Adventurer, that is what the Princess said." Darkness bowed deeply in apology, Aqua meanwhile took the opportunity of being separated from Darkness to walk over and hand her the sand painting. Upon seeing it Iris had an exuberant look upon her face. "To make such a beautiful and perfect sand painting in such a short moment of time is a great skill indeed. Amazing, simply amazing! A reward to you, Archrpriest! The Princess said."

Aurdel was getting sick of this 'the Princess said' crap already. The woman in the white suit reached into her breast pocket and pulled something out, offering it to Aqua. It was a rather expensive looking gem, Aqua taking it right away and beginning to appraise it. Darkness sat to the right of the Princess, the rest of his party sitting on the right side of her. He himself was sat down to the left of the Princess, he felt a slight amount of unease as the chair creaked a small bit. Fortunately it didn't break, apparently Darkness had taken the liberty of asking someone to reinforce the chair he'd be sitting in. The Princess looked at him dead on, then whispered to the woman in the white suit. "Now, I've heard many stories of your accomplishments as an adventurer but I wish to hear them from you yourself. So man of many things, tell your tales. That is what the Princess said."

**...A Royal Pain in My-...**

"...After that I organized all the groups of adventurers into their respective jobs and had them perform their duties. Once all the preparations were made, then we assaulted the Mobile Fortress Destroyer."

"Amazing! I've heard of great tales and feats from adventurers before, but nothing like this! Others tell in simple detail of how they fought a large group of beast by themselves, or how they'd slain a dragon with simply their sword… And they were amazing, but they never went into such details or such action as yours! Is what the Princess said." Frankly he didn't want to have to do this anymore, he was sick of having to watch the Princess whisper to the lady in the white suit and then have her message relayed to him. Because after all, she WAS sitting right next to him.

"I don't fight battles with one or two skills under my belt, I utilize everything I can for the best outcome and best chances of success. If that isn't possible then I withdraw and try to better myself for the occasion. Aside from that I regularly train to improve."

"An exemplary model of an adventurer indeed, how might you spend your days? The Princess is curious, as am I."

"I maintain my weapons and equipment and improve them wherever I see possible, if not that then I'll exercise in my room. And if not that either, I'll work on one of my many projects."

"How interesting. The adventurers before you all showed a dedication to their job but never in the way that you do. Tell me, what did you do before you became an adventurer? The Princess asks." He was REALLY getting sick of the echoing.

"Before I became an adventurer I served in the Navy and Army, not of this nation, and participated in a twenty-seven long year war until I was severely wounded. After that I became an Adventurer."

"A soldier? One would think that you would be sick of fighting after your service, but you kept going and kept fighting. "

"I can't exist without it, it's a part of me."

"Interesting indeed, the Princess says." How insightful… Aside from him having to blather on to the Princess about meaningless things, it was quiet. That was probably because Aqua had drank herself into a practical coma given that she was face down on the table. That was probably for the best though.

"But hearing this all has raised some doubts in my mind, I've heard even stories that you beat the hero of the magic sword Mitsurugi. If that was the case, would you mind showing me your adventurer's card so that I might use your skills as reference," the white suit said.

"No."

"...No?"

"No." She looked astonished at his denial, he simply sipped on the wine placed in front of him. Given that he had skills from both a Lich and an Archdevil, it probably wasn't the best to reveal them to the most powerful people in the nation.

The Princess tugged at the white suit of the woman, "Perhaps you lied about your accomplishments and are simply a con man. Perhaps you never even defeated Mitsurugi, is that that case? The Princess asks. I myself am skeptical, it is hard to imagine one defeating the great hero of the sword Mitsurugi. Especially given how handsome he was." Okay, he was done with this charade.

"Haha, fuck off." The room was silent, he heard Darkness' utensils clatter to her plate. The wine was good.

"How dare you speak to royalty with such a foul tongue you beast!" The woman with the white suit drew her sword from her waist and swung it at him.

Thud, the blade of the sword landed in his hand and cut it slightly. Some blood poured out, but not much. She and the Princess both looked shocked as he calmly stood up, "Now, I said I was going to try and control myself. But…" He bent the blade of the sword into a curve, then tore it from the stunned woman's hands. With moments he was up close and cracked the top of her head with the wide and dull end of the weapon, sending her toppling to the floor. "There are just some things I won't take sitting down, being insulted is one of those things." He walked up to the Princess, patted her on the cheek with his still bloody hand, then sat down. "Now I came here to speak with the Princess, not a puppet. So, what will it be?" Darkness quite literally fainted, her chair tipping over.

She smiled, "Alright, I'll speak with you."

* * *

"I-I apologize for the way this turned out, and for the behavior of my companion." the black dressed bodyguard said, bowing her head.

"And I apologize for losing my temper, but the matter has passed now." The woman with the white suit stood silently by the Princess' side with her head lowered in shame as he spoke those words.

"And I'm sorry for calling you a liar…" The Princess said softly, "But despite that, will you keep telling me stories about your acts as an adventurer?" She looked up at him with sad eyes. He felt somewhat sad for her.

"Sure, I"ll tell you more stories," she smiled at that.

"Well then, I suppose we will be returning to the castle," the woman in the black dress said, "Lady Dustiness, we thank you for the reception and apologize for all troubles." The woman began to chant teleportation magic..

"And these are given to you all as part of your service to the kingdom and its people. No doubt you will be remembered in the pages of history," the woman in the white suit said finally. She handed a plaque and a bag with something to Darkness, but still barely raised her head.

The others said their goodbyes. "I'm sure that there will be many opportunities in the future to tell my stories."

Her mage bodyguard finished her chant, "Why wait?" Iris grabbed his arm.

"Teleport!" Before he could respond, the world around him disappeared. When he blinked his eyes he found he was no longer in Darkness' home.

"Princess Iris?!" Both her bodyguards said. They were standing in front of a large and rather impressive castle.

"Didn't you promise that you'd tell me more stories?" Ah, this was a kidnapping.

Since there was most likely a heavy amount of guards and because he had no idea how he was going to get home from wherever they were, he'd just play along for now. It wasn't much of a choice. He followed the Princess. "Welcome back Princess Iris!" There were maids waiting for her arrival inside the castle, all of them bowed before her. Were none of them going to question this random man that had shown up alongside her…? It should be extremely suspicious for someone like him to suddenly appear and wander around. He'd be on his best behavior, he always was, but he still felt like it was improper.

The Princess lead them through a winding path of hallways in the castle, one that would be impossible for most to remember but was easy for him. Materials like gold, silver and silk were worked in wherever possible to give the most wealthy appearance possible to those who walked throughout. And it certainly did it's job, at least for most. To him it was far too glitzy and became more of an eyesore the more he saw it. Eventually they didn't have to see anymore of it as the Princess lead them off to a room separate from the rest of the castle. It was lavish to say the least. "Aurdel Ganowicz-sama, this will be your room for the time that you stay in the castle. Please feel free to treat this place as your own home and rest easy."

The two bodyguards were about to leave when he stopped them, "Hold on, isn't it wrong for this to happen? The implications of the way something like this looks is way too bad."

"I feel the same way about the situation, but her Royal Highness insisted that it be like this," the woman with the white suit said. "If there is an issue with the arrangements you'd have to take it up with her Royal Highness herself." Great.

"Usually her Royal Highness does not act this willfully, normally she restrains herself and acts as the epitome of a modest and obedient royal. But perhaps, because this is the first time she has acted out in such a way, you might be willing to be a temporary playmate?"

"Aren't there those of a more proper age? A good portion of my companions would be better fit for such a task, I'm far too-"

"Her Royal Highness did not pick any of your companions, she chose you. And if appearance is what you are worried most about I may speak to the Princess for you regarding that," the mage stepped away for a moment and left him simply standing with the one in the white suit.

"...Do you want me to bend your sword back into shape?"

"Of course not, I'll simply take it to a smith have it repaired. I require none of your help in such a matter," she turned her head boldly away from him. Clearly she was still sore from earlier but at least tried to look proper in front of Princess Iris despite that. After that small exchange the two of them remained quiet until the mage returned.

"The Princess shall make the proper arrangements tomorrow, simply proceed as would be expected."

Proper arrangements? What the hell was that supposed to mean given the situation? Personally he had absolutely no idea. And 'as would be expected'? What did that mean either? It was now that he was beginning to understand Anatalia's hesitancy to interact with any forms of nobility, they were a hassle. It was like dealing with ONI but with even less so done in order to protect humanity from some threat. Here, it was just whatever the noble wanted. Aurdel sighed, "Might I at least have your names so that I might be able to call one of you down should some incident occur?"

"I am Lady Claire," the one in the white suit said.

"I am Rain," the one in the black dress said. Good, he had names now. That was a lot more useful and respectful that "suit lady" or "dress lady."

After that, the two of them left. It was just him and Iris now. "Say, Princess-"

"Please, just call me Iris. I want you to take the same tone with me that you do with Lalatina… Erm, I mean, with Darkness."

"Alright, Iris, why is it that you're so interested in hearing about adventurers so much?"

"It's because I have no others to hear stories from, aside from those that I visit or dine with. My father and my onii-sama are off on the frontlines against the Demon King, I am unable to speak with them."

"Are there no other children your age?"

"There are, but none that I might associate with for fear of being looked down upon due to a difference in wealth and social standing. And even if that wasn't an issue I would not be permitted to visit them without my personal retainer."

Hmm, so she was lonely. "Alright, well, is there any story in particular that you might want to hear? I have a few of my adventures here, or I might be able to tell you some of my stories from when I was still in my own world." Hearing so many possible stories to be told the Princess lit up.

"I want to hear them all!"

"Okay then, I suppose I'll start with the ones from my world." Iris was excited as he began.

* * *

"...And so our team's and John's went head to head. It was like that a lot of the time, this time in particular thought was the most brutal. By the time the instructors stopped the exercise we'd torn up half the course with our fighting. It really was a sight to behold."

"Wow… That really does sound amazing." Iris had been listening attentively to every detail of every word he said, listening from start to finish. "Keep going!"

"It's much too late for that today, I'll tell you more tomorrow. Even someone like me needs some sleep," Iris sighed in resignation and got up from where she sat.

"Do you promise that you'll tell more tomorrow?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Okay, I'll hold you to that promise!" And she walked out of the room. He was able to start taking his clothes off and getting ready to slip into bed when she poked her head in for a moment more, "And don't worry, I'll make sure to handle your problem." After that she left for good for the night, shutting the door behind her. He was slightly concerned now, he didn't know what 'handling his problem' meant. He'd have to be on his toes tomorrow. With a yawn and a stretch of his arms he took off the suit he was still wearing, then laid down in the bed. It was soft, extremely so compared to even the ones they had at the mansion. He had no trouble falling asleep.


	25. Chapter 25

**...Second Fiddle…**

Aurdel lay in bed with his eyes closed, the situation that he was in was still somewhat unbelievable. Effectively he'd been kidnapped by Princess Iris and taken back to the capital to tell her stories. Hopefully things hadn't descended into pure chaos back at home. He knew that at least two of his party members were reliable, another being smart enough to not cause massive issues at home themselves. Hopefully Claire or Rain would at least send a letter to them to let them know that he was fine and would be staying for however long he was supposed to stay. He took a deep breath, then felt something heavy land on his stomach and knocked all the wind out of him. His eyes shot open reflexively and he curled up a little bit.

"Good Morning!" It was Iris, she was the troublemaker. Apparently after one of the previous days stories and demonstrations she'd taken it upon herself to attempt some of the things he'd taught her herself. That was probably at the expense of both him and the others in the castle.

"I really shouldn't have taught you to ambush people like that," he sat up in bed with the covers covering him. She really was a fast learner if she'd performed that well already.

"No, it's great. It's how I was able to get out of my room without Claire or Rain seeing me." Oh, perfect. She was using her skills to avoid her own bodyguards and if something wrong happened to her all the blame would squarely be on top of him. "By the way, I handled our problem."

She pulled out a small flash and thrust it into his hands. Normally, he wouldn't accept something like this. But he was faced with the daughter of the king of the country he lived in.

There really was no other choice. He opened the flask and drank it, it tasted absolutely horrible. Within moments his face felt like it was burning. "What was that thing?"  
"It's a remodeling potion," a what now? "That one specifically is made to make the user appear younger. But because you're so old it's one of the more potent potions." Great, not only was he completely unsure of what he'd been given but he was also being insulted too.

"And this is all safe?"

"Well, the potion line is actually banned in the country." …

"If it's banned then how did you get your hands on one? A specific variant no doubt?"

"I had Claire go out and find a known dealer who sold the potion, then I had her bring it back. Of course she didn't tell anyone else about it, so right now it's a well kept secret." Royals just do whatever they want, huh?

"And is it supposed to make me feel like my face is on fire and give me a migraine?" He put a hand on his forehead.

"Those are just some of the minor side effects." Just 'some' of the minor effects? This wasn't very confidence building.

"But since you're awake, why don't you tell me-?"

"Your Highness!" Claire shouted, slamming open the door to his room. "I understand that you're the reason for why he is here, but you must have some respect and restraint!" Iris hung her head and walked away from him, "Now come, you must prepare for your studies."

"Yes Claire…" She sounded really disappointed.

"Aurdel, Heidel will come by soon to prepare you breakfast. Until then you may remain in your room." Claire shut the door behind them as the two of them left. So Aurdel pulled the sheets off and stood up from the bed, stretching. The sun shined in from both the stained glass sunroof above him and the large window on the wall in front of the bed. He looked through. Outside was a beautiful courtyard he hadn't seen the previous day due to how dark it'd become, but now he was able to see it in its full glory.

There were mazes of hedges, bushes with flowers and rows of beautiful trees all over. Somehow, they kept all of it alive in this weather and it was a feat to be proud of. In the middle of it all was a large water fountain of marble. Then on the far end of the courtyard was a large body of water not too dissimilar to the Reflecting Pool in the URNA he'd seen in history textbooks. Tending to it was an army of servants and workers of the royal family. Looking at all of this while being here alone without his party felt wrong, he could easily imagine the things Aqua would say. "Aurdel, why can't we have a house like this? I want a giant pool!" Or "A Goddess like me deserves servants, don't you think?" It all led him to wonder just how they were handling him being gone. Hopefully, well.

* * *

"WAAAAAAAH!"

"Hiss!" Chomusuke was chasing Aqua around the mansion relentlessly, she was covered in scratches from the cats attacks. Apparently Aurdel had bribed the cat into defending his room whenever they were on quests, and because he was gone Chomusuke still considered it her duty to guard it until he got back. Yunyun didn't exactly know why Aqua wanted to go into Aurdel's room. But she and Megumin weren't exactly taking it well either.

"S-Stop it you two! Harassing me, no matter how nice this may be, won't get Aurdel back here quicker!" Darkness shouted. Yunyun and Megumin were shaking her violently, Anatalia poking her head out above the couch to watch with a bottle of wine cradled in her arms.

"I wanted to talk to him after we finished that dinner!" She pouted, "There was something that I needed to tell him!"

"I'm sure you'll be able to tell him when-" Darkness started.

"YOU want to tell him something?!" Megumin shouted back, "I'm the one that needs to tell him something!"

"You only want to say the same thing because I'm the one who wants to say it!"

"I do not!" The two of them began to grapple with each other.

"What has gotten into you two? You fight like starving wolves over a small scrap of meat."

"You wouldn't understand, Darkness," she felt embarrassed saying that. "I really am-!"

"WAAAAAAH!" Aqua came crashing through, knocking all of them down as Chomusuke meowed in victory

* * *

Yeah, probably well. Before breakfast came in he was able to get himself dressed, making sure to hide his weapons on his person again. It'd probably be a sign of bad faith if servant, maid or something of the like came to clean his room and ended up finding a gun, knife and grenade. Not soon after breakfast was delivered to his room just like Claire had said. Unfortunately breakfast was a lot more lively than he'd expected. The things he'd just eaten would make what people against genetic modification for foods look tiny in comparison. The same idea could be applied to any animal activists. For starters, the asparagus attacked him. Now why asparagus was being served for breakfast was one thing, the fact it'd gotten up off of the plate and attacked him was another entirely. He'd managed to go up a level by the time he'd caught and eaten all of it. It was only one of the items in the telltale meal to come. Next we're the eggs. To the untrained eye they looked like normal fried eggs, because they should be, but when he poked it with his fork he found that this egg to whatever animals was still very much alive. In fact it bounced around a little. He put the poor little thing out of its misery. The fact that he gained a level from it too only made it worse.

Last was the Lesser Dragon bacon. How they'd managed to slay a dragon? He didn't know. Why had they turned it into bacon? He didn't know that either. In the end the bacon turned out to taste good, even if the meat was a little bit tough. Fortunately the rest of the meal after that was normal. Unless the tea and bread was actually alive and had tried attacking him at some point, then he'd missed it. With breakfast finished he didn't exactly know what he was supposed to do. He'd been brought here to tell Iris stories, but right now she was in one of her lessons. And he didn't exactly know where he was allowed to go or wander inside the palace. But he wasn't just going to sit in this room all day either. So, since it'd probably bother no one, he'd take a walk. He left his room and stepped out into the gilded halls of the royal palace.

Everywhere he went the designs that were present were those meant to really evoke an air of nobility, these were royals after all, but he felt that in his taste it was much too showy. In fact, if anything, it probably took away from the palace's beauty. But besides that were all of the paintings and furniture lining the walls, each one more expensive the last . As he walked he made sure to keep track of where he was going and kept a visual map of the palace in his mind. Not only would it be bad to get lost in a place like this, but if he ever found himself needing to escape it would be good to know what ways to take to get out of here. And since he'd learned his lesson, he stayed on his toes and threw back an attack from Iris that came out of nowhere.

"Don't think you can me twice twice in the same day, you're not that good yet. But what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be having lessons?"

"I did," she proudly said, "But I snuck out."

"You what?"

"I snuck out, just like how you taught me the other day." …

"Then the next thing that I'm going to teach you is how to put people into a submission hold and drag them around, because they're not doing what they should be doing." A few moments later, he was dragging Iris back to her lessons."I apologize for the inconvenience, Rain."

"It's no trouble, I suppose I should have just kept an open on the Princess. We were just going over some battle tactics and she was struggling a little."

"Battle tactics?" He walked over and looked over the table that was set up in the room. There were various pieces placed standing in formations on opposing sides of a map on the table, clearly taking the place of an enemy and friendly army. For the side that Iris was taking there were two regiments of infantry, a battalion of cavalry, a battalion of archers and a battalion of mages, those with advanced magic available to them. The battle was taking place in what appeared to be a small canyon with an entrance and exit on either side. Far outside the canyon was an army, mostly infantry with a few groups of mages but no cavalry or archers to speak of, one supposed to represent that of the Demon King's. "How quickly are the opposing forces moving?"  
"Erm, I didn't think of that. Let's say… half an hour?"

"Half an hour…" he repeated with a mutter, "I suppose I see a way this battle can be fought. Given the size of this canyon."

"Given the size of this canyon…? I'm not sure I follow."

He pointed to the cavalry and one of the regiments of infantry, "First, given the size of the canyon and the pace that enemies are approaching my approach would be to exit the canyon and travel along it, behind cover, towards the other side. They would arrive by the time the opposing force had arrived and entered the canyon." He pointed to the remaining infantry. "The infantry will push forwards towards the entrance of the canyon and will hold there until told to retreat. After some time they will feign a fighting retreat into the canyon that coincides with the arrival of the other regiment, causing the hostiles to pursue them inside. Those that were outside will then close off the entrance and finish the encirclement of the enemies. From there the cavalry will assault the enemy from behind with support from the infantry, and from the front the infantry will engage with the supporters of the archers and the mages in the rear."

"That… that doesn't sound like a very honorable way of combating them."

"Honor? It's a battle of survival against a foe of superior numbers, there is no honor here. You need to take any valid strategy that will ensure victory, that's why something like surprise tactics are so effective and commonly used. BUT, they are NOT something to be practiced on your teachers." He shot a glance at Iris, who was sneaking up on Rain to possibly attempt the submission hold he'd done earlier. After that Rain turned and saw, so she backed. "If you really want to train like that, do it after your lessons. The mind is as important as the muscle," Rain gave him a small bow .

"Okay papa." Both him and Rain stopped in their tracks.

"What did you say?"

"I called you papa, because you're acting like my father." He blinked, he knew that someone had entered the room and was standing in the doorway.

"How could you…" Someone said with disgust, it was Claire. He hadn't done anything, but she was staring him down.

"I'm interested, why would you pick a tactic like that?"

He crossed his arms, "I fought a battle similar to this some time ago, though not with the exact same troops or in the same exact method."

Iris grabbed his arms, "I want to hear!" He looked over to Rain, she nodded in allowance.

"Alright, I'll tell you."

* * *

"Damn, long range comms are down. We've lost contact with command," the Major near him said, "All we have is the short range with the troops here."

"What are we supposed to do? The Covies are less than an hour away from us!" A Lieutenant shouted. Aurdel stared at the tactical map in front of him and the other officers, looking at the approaching Covenant forces. There was a brigade worth of Covenant foot infantry approaching with the support of light mechanized forces, around the size of a batallion. They would have had Banshee air support but a wing of Longsword fighters had swung by and wiped out their squadrons, nuking a cruiser that was deploying the hostile forces.

"Pull it together," Aurdel said, the officers around him stared at him. He pushed a series of buttons of the holotable, transferring the regional comm to his suit. "Attention men of the Two Hundred and Twelfth Engineering battalion, Third Marine regiment and the Sixty Third Mechanized battalion, this is Spartan Sierra zero zero nine. Communication with command has been lost." A large amount of chatter immediately erupted on the comms, but he spoke through it. "All fireteams willing to fall in with my command, report in."

"You can't assume command!" The Major said, "You may be a Spartan but chain of command suggests that one of us should take charge." He put his finger in his visor.

The replies of officers in command of each fireteam started coming in, every single one had accepted his assumption of command. He stared down the Major, who sat back down in the chair. "Good, now listen to my orders carefully as you will need to follow my exact instructions to get through this battle." He began to divide them up. "Battalions A and B of the Third, move up to Sector B-Twelve and establish minor defensive positions there. Companies A and B Two Hundred and Twelfth hold your position and establish defensive emplacements here, C and D move up behind the Marines and set a net of C-12 charges and Lotus anti-tank mines with one detonation sequence. And for the Sixty Third and Battalion C of the Third, exit out of the canyon via the rear entrance and travel along the outside. The cover will be enough to hide your approach from the Covenant, be ready to move into the canyon from the opposite entrance on my order."

Within moments of orders a stampede of footsteps and engines rang out, the men moving around the canyon according to his orders. The Mechanized forces and Battalion C split up, one half of each going to the east and west respectively. Aurdel walked out of the command post, "Where are you going?!" The Major shouted after him.

"A leader can't lead from behind the frontlines, Major. If I make them take risks I will do the same." He grabbed his gear, taking a DMR and an M6D along with spare ammunition and a belt of grenades. The ride he hitched was one with two other marines, one driving and one on the gunner's position. Aside from the roar of the engines it was quiet as they drove up and took their positions. Half an hour passed.

"Sir, confirmation of Covenant forces approaching from the north. They're a few minutes away from us."

"Let them come Sergeant, it's just as we planned. We'll hold them here until the mechanized are ready to assault from the rear."

"Yes sir," the Sergeant gave a salute and went back to his position. Aurdel looked off into the distance, scoping in with his rifle. He could see the cloud of dust as the Covenant light armor and infantry moved across the badlands like landscape. From here he could see the Ghosts, Shadows and Revenants following the infantry in the rear. Luckily there were no Wraiths, they'd dealt with that heavy armor in an earlier battle with an air strike. Standard AT procedure would work here against the light ones. A few more minutes passed, plasma bolts began to fly through the air. His men returned fire, so did he.

With AP rounds loaded into his rifle he was focusing down on some of the Covenant light armor, taking shots at the Ghosts and Revenants since they were the biggest threats. He fired, the bullet passed through the armor of the ghost. He fired again, the Unggoy behind it had his head splattered and presumably fell on the controls as the vehicle spun out of control and collided with another in an explosion. He fired three times, the propulsion system on a Revenant went out and it dropped onto the dirt. The vehicle was then struck by a rocket shot by a Marine, combusting into a haze of purple plasma and flames. The Warthogs they'd brought did their work too, chainguns spun and did their rounds on the Covenant infantry.

A Shadow charged the frontlines, boosting forward at top speed. Then it was bisected by the gauss cannon of a hog, killing the driver and all of the infantry it carried. The battle had gone on for about twenty minutes when he got the message from the mechanized commands. "Spartan, we're in position and awaiting your order to move in."

"Affirmative. In 0020 hours move from your position and hit those bastards from behind. Battalions A and B, we are moving out!" The men around him got up from their positions, beginning the fighting retreat. He himself made sure to step forward and preserve any lives he could, taking out any Covenant infantry that he saw getting close before they could fire and get a kill on a Marine. Most of the Covenant's infantry here was composed of Sangheili and Unggoy units, though there were a few Kig-Yar here and there. Luckily there were no Brutes or Hunters, so dispatching them was rather straight forward.

They retreated back towards the emplacements established by the engineers, being supported by their covering fire as they fought towards them. Before they knew it they were back in safe positions and off the field of explosives. Unfortunately for the Covenant, they weren't. The Covenant never seemed to hold back or let a foe go, so to see them retreating? They just couldn't resist pursuing it. But that would be their downfall here. "Detonate the charges!" After a five second delay, the charges went off. A cloud of smoke, fire and dirt filled the space where the Covenant had been changing across. Within a moment it cleared, its resulting damage could be seen. Nearly all of the Covenant armor was blown sky high or had become near inoperable, making them a much lesser threat than they were before. And much of the infantry was wiped out too, with those that remained being severly injured but still attempting to fight.

"All units, you are free to engage!" He shouted over the comms, hails of bullets wailed out from their defensive positions and they began to gun down the injured hostiles. Many, mostly Unggoy, of those who'd survived dropped their weapons and began to flee. Even some of the Sangheili which was a surprise, since they supposedly treated fighting as death before dishonor, had fled. They wouldn't find their safety though. The Mechanized and remaining infantry attacked them from the former rear, shells and bullets hailing down on them. Within twenty minutes more the entire enemy force had been wiped out, with medium casualties to their own. The battle was a success.

* * *

"There were a lot of things I didn't understand about that story. For example, what does mechanized mean? And why were you using Scorpions and the enemy using things such as Ghosts and Revenants? Was your time as a Spartan also spent fighting armies of undead?"

"This all sounds relatively far fetched to me," Claire said, "I doubt someone like you could lead an army."

"There have been at least three events where I've done that. Two were at the city of Axel, leading all of its adventurers in its defense. The third was at the Crimson Demon village. In all cases all of the opposing forces were wiped out." Claire looked stunned. But Iris had been listening intently the whole time, following every word. There was a look of amazement and wonder on her face.

"So, do you understand it now?" Iris nodded her head with excitement, "Good, now, I want you to finish your lessons with Rain but with what you've learned. Alright? Once you're done, and I'll make sure you're done, you can come and find me and I can tell you another story."

"Okay papa!" Claire's face twitched, Iris sat back down in front of Rain who was still at a loss for words after the whole experience of having her intended lesson shattered by him and his story. So he left the room, he could explore the courtyard next. There was immediate discussion in the room once he'd left and the door shut behind him. "I want him to have dinner with us!"

"Absolutely not Your Highness!" Claire protested, "I don't think that man can be trusted. And please don't call him 'papa!'"

**...Worries Unjustified...**

"How long does it take to get to the capital from here?" Yunyun asked.

"To the capital from here?" Darkness said, "It takes four to five days by a non-stop carriage, over a week if you go on foot. Why?"

"Because we're going to break Aurdel out!" She was resolved in this.

"Break him out?! He was brought back by the royal family, not imprisoned!"

"Even so, I don't trust it especially if he was the only one taken by that Princess," Megumin said, for once supporting her.

"Yeah! And I don't have any drinking money left and I can't find Aurdel's stash!" Aqua added, caring more for her personal problems.

"That's because the only people who know where it is are me and him," Anatalia said, swiping Aqua's face with her tail, "He knew that if he was ever gone and you were here that you'd look for it."

"You damn fox!" Aqua tried to grab hold of her but missed and stumbled, Anatalia kicked out her legs and sent her crashing onto the floor. After that she sat on her back and held her down as she thrashed around.

"You are right though," she conceded, "I don't trust any nobles, not even royalty. They could easily be doing something bad to him while he's there."

"So, does that mean we're going to get him?"

"Of course we are!" Yunyun said, "It's four against one Darkness, we're going to save him."

"I suppose we are then," she admitted defeat. "Then if that's the case we all need to get ready. The roads to the capital can be especially dangerous with the war against the Demon King going on."

"Maybe we don't need to take the roads. Why don't we teleport there?" Anatalia offered.

"I don't have a teleport point at the capital yet," Yunyun said sadly.

"Who else can we go to that might be able to teleport us there?" They collectively stopped to think for a moment

* * *

"You want to teleport to the capital?"

"Yes Wiz, Aurdel needs our help there," Megumin said.

"Well I'd love you to help you all, but I'm afraid I don't have any direct teleport points to the capital either." Four of them let out a sigh of defeat.

"I suppose that settles it then," Darkness said, "If we can't teleport then-"

"But, I do have a teleport point that is relatively close by to the capital."

"What is it?!" Yunyun asked, getting close up.

"I-It's a dungeon near the capital, one that's been completely cleared out and turned into a tourist destination. It's within a day's worth of travel from the capital, so you should be able to get there quickly as long as nothing gets in your way."

"You Goddess of Plagues! Take your hands off of our merchandise!" Vanir was yelling at Aqua, who was busy concerning herself with all of the things that were in the store.

"How rude! Isn't it supposed to be that the customer is always right?"

"Unfortunately for your idiom, you are no customer!" Vanir turned to Wiz, "Wiz, send these troublemakers away before they send us further into debt that you've already plunged us."

"Vanir-san, there's no reason to be so rude. They simply wanted-"

"Vanir Style-"

"Eh?! Alright, I'll send them away!" She had tears as Vanir put down his arms and the glow disappeared from his eyes. "Really Vanir-san can be too mean sometimes." The five of them all huddled in on spot, "I wish all of you luck on your trip! Teleport!"


	26. Chapter 26

**...Noble Efforts…**

"Is this the place?" Megumin asked. They looked around, there were crowds of people everywhere. "It certainly looks like it is."

"Yes, this is the dungeon Wiz was referring to," Darkness confirmed, " I've been here several times since I was a girl. Oh how I wandered it's halls, long I dreamed of finding a powerful monster to hold me down and-"

"Hey guys, I always thought you were really cool. So can you lend me some money so I can go and check out those gift shops?"

"Aqua, are you sure you're not a Thief? Your only skill seems to be playing fast and loose with money that isn't yours," Anatalia commented.

"I do not play fast and loose with money! I only buy things that are absolutely necessary for me."

"Then did you absolutely need those fancy soaps?"

"Of course I did! A Goddess like me should always be the highest form of clean."

"Stop getting sidetracked!" Yunyun shouted, "We're here to come and get Aurdel back, not go shopping."

"But I want to go buy some things!"

"You can buy things at the capital once we have him back!" She physically dragged Aqua with her, leading them through the crowd.

"You know Yunyun, recently you've been acting quite different," Megumin said.

"Yes, I've noticed that too actually. I just didn't want to comment on it in case you'd be offended."

"W-what do you mean I've been acting different? And why would I be offended?"

"Well you're acting a lot more like Aurdel. Back then you never would have taken charge like this."

"I-Is there something wrong with acting a little like him?!"

"No no, that's not what I'm saying," Megumin said with her hands raised, "I was just wondering if you were trying to do that on purpose."

"On purpose…?" She hadn't really noticed herself acting differently, so she couldn't have been doing it on purpose. But maybe it wasn't a bad idea that she could consider. She did want to get closer to him after all. "Not really, but I don't see anything wrong with it."

"I was just curious." They kept pushing their way through the crowds, they had to stay on track if they were going to get through and find him.

"Anatalia, can you see any enemies nearby?"

"No, I can't. There are too many people around us, it messes with Enemy Detection. But it shouldn't be something we have to worry about, I don't think there be any-"

"Monsters! Run!" A man shouted, as if set off by her comment.

"Why'd you have to set off a flag like that?!" Megumin shouted.

"I didn't set off anything, it just happened!" All of them drew their weapons. Darkness had her greatsword, Anatalia her daggers, Aqua and Megumin their staffs and Yunyun her wand. When the crowds had actually cleared they actually saw what was attacking the people.

"What are those things?!" Aqua shouted.

"Hyperboreans! What are they doing here?!"

"You know what they are?!"

"Of course I do, they're from my home country! What I don't know is why they're here!" Yunyun stared at the massive monsters before them. They could be said to look like extremely hair and dishevelled men, ones who'd never taken care of their appearance in their lives. Some of them had hair as white as snow, the same color as Anatalia's fur, and some of them had brown and black hair.

"Yunyun, set them on fire!"

"Inferno!" Yunyun summoned a blaze of fire and enveloped the tall beasts in flames. But when it cleared…

"They're not burning?! Move out of the way!" They all scattered out of the way as the giants swung their clubs, slamming the ground with a great amount of force. The clubs were about the size of trees and tore the ground up, dirt and stone sprayed out. They went to swing again.

"Light of Saber!" Yunyun cut through one of their clubs, the end of it went flying and hit one of the giants. "Bottomless Swamp!" A purple hole opened up in the ground beneath the giants, they fell in. But with how massive they were they were able to stand straight up in it, beginning to climb out.

"We have to run!" Anatalia shouted.

"I won't run, not from a fight like this! Not when I have such a beastly foe in front of me,"Run, I'll hold them off while you retreat! Oh how much I've wanted to say that!" She brandished her sword and prepared herself to charge the giants.

"No you aren't! Bind!" Anatalia bound Darkness.

"W-what are you doing?! This is no time for-!"

"It's not what you think! Aqua, help me drag her away!" She grabbed one of the ropes around Darkness.

"Why should I help you, you dumb fox?"

"I'll get you the best wine I can find in the capital if you do!"  
"You should have just opened with that! Blessing!" Aqua cast a support spell on Anatalia and herself, then the two of them picked up Darkness and began carrying her away.

"Fufufu! I'll show those giants the power of a true Archwizard-!"

"Silent!" Yunyun cast a spell on Megumin to make sure that she didn't fire off Explosion, if she did it was sure to destroy all of the shops and possibly ruin the dungeon. And if she did that it'd only cause trouble for them and Aurdel. She grabbed Megumin's collar and dragged her away from the giants who were chasing after them. "Freeze Gust!" She froze a large area behind them as they ran, she was going to try and trip them up.

"That won't work, they're too heavy!" Anatalia shouted to her, "They'll just break through the ice!" And they did, the ice that had frozen the ground shattered into a million pieces from their footsteps and clubs.

One of the giants was coming extremely close, it raised it's club! "Lightning Strike!" She summoned a bolt of lightning and it struck the club. While it wasn't perfect at sending it through, it still passed through the club and hit the giant. She heard the massive thump of it hitting the ground as they continued running. There were about seven more of them left.

"Aren't there supposed to be a bunch of high level adventurers here?!" Megumin questioned once the spell had finally worn off. "I heard they were always near the capital!"

"The city itself must be under attack if they're not focusing on these giants!" Darkness said back.

Yunyun was going to try something else. "Paralyze!" She let off another spell and paralyzed one of the giants, causing a few of the others to trip up. They weren't dead but they at least wouldn't be chasing after them for now. There was still the issue of the ones that still were. And she could tell that she was using a lot of her magic.

"Yunyun! Let me cast Explosion on those things!"

"Absolutely not! You're going to get us in trouble or hit us with it too!"

"How dare you say things like that! I am not a child, I am an Archwizard!" As they argued with each other, as they ran, an armored man suddenly appeared practically out of thin air. He charged straight at the giants. She could see that in his hands was a weapon similar to one of the ones that she'd seen Aurdel taking apart and putting back together at the mansion. Of course he'd never used it around them so it was a surprise to her when she heard it now. It was loud, like a constant stream of detonation spells going off. The man leapt into the air and fired the weapon at the giants for a few moments, then pulled something out of it and took another of the same item out of a bag at his waist. Within a matter of minutes the giants were dead. The man stood over their bodies then looked over to them.

"Are you five alright?" They were all taking a good look at him.

"That armor…" Yunyun said quietly, then she spoke up. "Are you a Spartan like Aurdel?!"

The man froze, then walked over. "You know what Spartans are?"

"N-not really, but we know one. His name is Aurdel, Aurdel Ganowicz."

"What's his Spartan tag?"  
"Spartan… tag?"

"Yeah, every Spartan has a number attached to their name. It's given to us during training."

"Um… I think it was… zero zero nine?"

"Hmm… So he's not from my company. Well, if there are other Spartans here that's good to know." The man stuck a hand out, "The name is Six."

* * *

"Six? What kind of a name is Six?" Aqua pestered.

"Oh, you're here too." The man looked at Aqua, "What, it wasn't enough to send me here? You had to follow me here too?"

"I'm afraid I don't know who you are, brown armor guy."

"Figures, you send so many people here that it'd be hard to remember." He turned back to Yunyun, "So where is this Spartan of yours?"

"He's at the capital, the Princess took him."

"Ah, so he's the same Aurdel as the one who took out those Generals. Makes sense."

"You know about him?"

"Of course I do, there's a bunch of buzz in the capital about him. It wasn't exactly a secret for long that he was here. But the capital is under siege right now."

"Under siege?"

"That's where those giant things came from, their Demon King Commander had them teleported in. But I don't think they were trained well, because they attacked their own lines and ran off. I was on my way out of the city when I saw them heading this way so I decided to go after them, though it looks like they got to you before I got to them."

"Y-yeah, I suppose so. Can you take us to the capital?"

"Sure, but it's still a warzone out in front of it so you'll have to help out with that."

"Fufu, I'll deal with them myself. I'll show them the true power of an Archwizard!" Megumin flicked her cape. Six looked at them, they shrugged.

"Alright then, follow me." Six lead the way, taking them down a path.

As they walked they could hear the sword of clashing metal and the use of magic coming closer and closer, eventually the battlefield came into view. "That army is… huge." Darkness spoke with amazement as Anatalia finally untied her, setting her down on the ground. "They really do mean to take the capital this time."

"Yeah, the battle has been going on for around two hours so far. We'll come out on top for sure but it'll take a while. Well, that is unless you have some sort of trump card to play on them."

Before he'd even finished that sentence Megumin had begun chanting, "Explosion!" Her spell shook the hillside and struck the Demon King's army attacking the city, even from here they could see the destruction it wrought. What used to be the center of the enemy army was now a large crater with their bodies flying all over. With how powerful it was it caused the battle to stop for a moment, enemies and adventurers alike looking to see where it'd come from.

"See? I told you that I'd show you the true power of an Archwizard," Megmin collapsed.

"How can you still say that when you can't even stand up after using your magic?"

"How dare you insult me and my Explosion magic like that Yunyun!" She tried to strike her with her staff from the ground, but she wasn't able to muster up the energy to do so. Darkness picked her up.

"Well then, I suppose that's enough to turn the tide," Six folded his arms as he looked back towards the battlefield where combat had begun again. With the amount of foes that had been slain they easily began to push them back. "Let's go then." It took some time, but eventually they did make it to the capital.

Yunyun had never seen so many large buildings before, nor so many people. Maybe she'd seen something like it when Aurdel had shown them his world, but she couldn't remember that trip. But now they were here. The capital. "I don't know where you guys are from, but the capital is different from a lot of the other cities in this world."

"Do you travel a lot?"

"Sure, I'm almost always in the move. I just happened to be here for the past week."

"Have you been to the western continent?" Anatalia asked.

"I'm afraid I haven't. I've been meaning to go there, but with the war here and the civil war going on there there's no one willing to take me there.

"Oh… I was hoping to hear some news from back home."

"You're from there?"

"I am, that's how I knew what those giants were." She continued, "After all, they're really what the war there is over."

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand that," Yunyun said.

"A very long time ago the Hyperboreans were somewhat smaller, a little taller than Aurdel, and they had their own nation. My people conquered them and enslaved them. For years after that they were bred purposefully to be the big and dumb monsters they are now. But recently people began to question whether or not it was right. Eventually that turned into war. That's why I sent my sister away, I didn't want her caught in the middle of it."

"I'll make sure to keep that all in mind when I go there, maybe I'll even go with you when you do," they kept walking. "So, where is this Spartan of yours?"

**...Castle Crashers...**

"What in the name of the Gods was that?" Claire said as the palace shook. Really, the whole capital had shaken. As far as Aurdel knew there was only one person capable of doing such a thing. Granted, they could only do so once a day. Regardless if it was done here then it was a telltale sign that his companions were looking for him. He couldn't understand why though, had things degraded to be so bad without his presence so quickly? Claire was able to read the expression on his face and essentially picked up on what he was thinking. She wasn't particularly thrilled having him here, so she'd probably do what she could to get him to leave.

"I'm not sure. Claire, can you have someone go find out what that was?"

"Of course Your Highness, we should have your hero here investigate it." He was about to stand up when Iris grabbed his arm, quite forcefully in fact. It was a lot stronger than he would have expected of a young girl. Her strength stat had to be incredibly high if her appearances were really that deceiving. Then he remembered something, a person's stats increased with their level. And all of the food he'd eaten since he'd come here managed to increase his level by some manner. That could only mean… just how high of a level was this Princess?!

"I simply cannot allow that Claire, how will he be able to tell me his stories if he's outside investigating? Please, investigate in his place."

"O-of course, Your Highness." Claire shot another glance at him, then left.

"Now please, continue with your story."

* * *

Claire was furious. Not with Iris, of course, how could she be? No, she was furious with this man. This man who'd somehow woo'd her Royal Highness with tall tales of adventure, this man who lacked honor and any decency for those above his own status. How she could enjoy the company of such a man was beyond her. Then again, she shouldn't question her Royal Highness. But what damaged her the most about this man was the fact that he'd taken her Royal Highness from her. Were it not for the intervention of this man it would be solely her and Rain that was able to bask in her presence. But now, now that he has encapsulated her, she is hardly able to spend any time with her. Were it not for the will of her Royal Highness she would have slain this man where he stood for his impudence. But perhaps she didn't need to kill him to be rid of him, there may be other ways.

After all she had seen the look on his face when the castle shook, perhaps he knew what had caused it? If he did, it was entirely possible to exploit this. Maybe he really was an agent of the Demon King's army sent to abduct or kill the Princess and was simply biding his time until the perfect chance arose. Yes, if that was the case then she had to stay on her toes. Then, once she'd defeated this man and saved the Princess she'd receive her praise! Oh yes, she'd love that. To be on the receiving end of the praise of her Royal Highness Iris instead of this man would be a heavenly reward, one without comparison. So she would have to exploit this situation, no matter what it was.

She left the castle and was about to leave the courtyard, that was when she saw a situation at the gate. There was a medium sized group of Knights blocking several people from entering the grounds. Could they be the cause of it? She had to find out. "Knights, what appears to be the issue here?"

One of the Knights turned, "Lady Claire, these five are trying to enter the palace with this adventurer."

"All we want to do is take Aurdel back with us!" One of those five said. Oh? So they did know him?

"Allow me to see them," the Knights parted to allow her a view of the group. Yes, she did remember these five. They were present at the meal in Axel. She'd only speak to one of them though. "Lady Dustiness, I'm afraid the Princess hasn't allowed him to leave."

"Surely there is something that can be done to allow him to leave."

"There is one idea that I've come up with."

* * *

Aurdel didn't know how to feel about this. Claire had appeared to him while Iris was away at one of her lessons, and explained that he'd be leaving. His party had shown up to the palace in order to take him home. But the Princess would not simply allow him to walk out. He would have to take a more aggressive approach to get out of the palace. That's why Claire had given a cloak, a mask and told him to wait until midnight, that's when he'd be breaking out. It was around that time now anyways, so he slipped the mask on and put the cloak on over his suit. He didn't have any weapons except those that he'd snuck in on him so he would have to fight smart if he was going to get out. The last thing he needed to happen was for him to get caught while it looked like he was attacking the palace.

He cracked the door open and peeked out, he didn't see any guards. This was the perfect time to get out. "Lurk!" He pushes himself through the crack in the door, then stepped out into the hall and closed it behind him. With his skill he crept quietly through the halls.

"Stay alert," someone said, "Lady Claire said that there would be some trying to attack the palace." Well, it certainly seemed like she was holding a grudge if she was intentionally trying to make this even harder for him. With Enemy Detection he was able to detect the presence of five guards in one hallway, probably not best to go that way. He walked away from that hallway and towards another, there were even more guards there. They were unavoidable at this point. Even with Lurk and the darkness he had avail to him, these halls were far too small to effectively hide him. Then if sneaking wasn't an option…

He charged down the hallway. "Hmm? Do you hear foot-?" The guard slammed into the wall as Aurdel kicked him, he felt the man's ribs break under his foot. An injury like that would be fatal if not treated and he didn't want to kill these men for simply doing their jobs. He cast heal on him, using the skill he'd picked up secretly a while back from Aqua to make sure that he stayed alive though unconscious.

"There! The intruder!" One of the guards shouted, alerting the other three. "Stop him! We can't allow him to leave the palace alive!" The four of them charged forward, converging towards him. Aurdel picked up the fallen guards shield and bashed forward as they came close, sending two of them flying. The other two struck at him but had their blows blocked. Aurdel swung his right leg and caught one in the shoulder, making them drop their sword and fall to the ground. The last one took a few steps back and looked at him, then took a combat stance. With confidence the guard charged forward and attacked him. This one seemed to be using a lot more precise strikes, though Aurdel was easily able to avoid them. He shoved the shield forward into the guard, who managed to push it aside and get a solid cut in against him. This guy was surprisingly good for a guard, maybe he'd leave a message for them to watch him carefully. He whipped the shield back around and slammed it into the man's side, throwing him down. But how would he mark him…? He had an idea. He took the man's helmet off and laid it on his chest, that should be good enough. He began to run again.

There were scattered voices and footsteps throughout the halls as they ran, they were going to try with everything they had to apprehend him. He charged through, there was another group of guards coming his way. He raised his shield and plowed straight through them, against them he was unstoppable. But, normal guards weren't the only people he was up against. "Halt! I am the hero of the sacred elements, you shall not pass intruder!" Aurdel stopped. In the man's right hand was a spinning ball of flames, in the other was a ball of ice. With a proclamation like that it could only mean he was one of those annoying cheat users that Aqua sent, he could afford to be a little less forgiving with this one. "Taste my sacred flames!" A stream of blue fire shot out of his hand, Aurdel jumped to avoid it.

Why was this fool using fire indoors? Was he planning to burn down the whole palace with him? Aurdel picked up a chair and threw it into the stream of fire, it turned to ash before it was able to hit the man. He'd have to play this smart. "Create Water!" He sprayed water into the stream of fire, partially dousing it as he ran forward.

"You can't do that!" The man pointed his other hand towards the ground and sprayed it with ice, the entire hall in front of him was covered in it now. Aurdel dropped to his knees with the shield under him and slid across the hall, ducking under the flame. When the cheat user noticed this he pointed the flames downwards to hit Aurdel, but he jumped up and moved the shield to have it block the flames while he slid on the ice. Some of the fire got past the shield and caught part of his robes on fire, that wasn't good. He had enough momentum to plow his way down the rest of the hallway, sliding into the man's legs.

Aurdel shot up and slammed the shield into his face, sending the cheat user stumbling. Aurdel charged forward again, slamming his right fist into the man's chest and then throwing a push kick to knock him down. With him down Aurdel made sure he didn't burn alive. "Create Water!" He doused his burning robes, the parts around his lets had essentially all burned away. He kept moving, he was approaching one of the halls with a view of the courtyard. From there he'd be able to open a window and jump out, then he'd just have to get out and over the wall. But again, things wouldn't be made any easier for him. "I know who you are intruder, and might I just say I'm pleased that we'll finally be able to cross blades." It was Iris, Rain and Claire. "Of course I won't engage you just yet. My two bodyguards will face you first." Claire drew her repaired sword, Rain her staff.

There was a grin on Claire's face. Clearly, even though this was her idea, she wasn't planning to go down without a fight. But the look on Rain's face suggested she knew nothing about what was really going on. "Lightning!" Rain cast a spell at him from her staff, he jumped to avoid it. It struck the wall behind him and charred it. In the meanwhile Claire charged straight for him. He held up the shield as she struck blow after blow. He stood still and feigned being pressured by her, and she took the bait by pressing the sword against the shield with even more force. She tried to tower over him but had to stand on her toes to do so. That was perfect. He swiped his right leg outward and kicked her off balance. With his free hand he hit her on the back of the head, hitting with enough force to knock her out cold.

"Lady Claire!" Rain shouted, "Fire-!" He threw down the shield and picked Claire up, Rain wouldn't dare risk hitting another bodyguard. "H-how dishonorable!" And he ran straight at her while she tried to move around the room, aiming to get a hit in on him without severely injuring Claire at the same time. "Freeze Gust!" She covered the floor with ice, he slid upon it. Then he threw Claire at Rain. "Eh?! Wind Barrier!" A barrier of wind appeared and Claire harmlessly dinked off of it, falling to the floor. "Now I'll get you, Light of Saber!" The sweeping blade of light came at him, he ducked under it and it sliced through a pillar. "Ankle Snare!" Something grabbed his leg from the ground, but with the momentum he had he was able to use it to go in a circular motion. Enough in fact to go swinging through where Rain was standing.

He plowed straight through her legs and grabbed her staff as she dropped it. He skid to a halt and stood up with staff in hand. "Return that!"

"Create Earth! Wind Breath!" The staff amplified his usual magic, spraying a cloud of dirt at Rain.

"My eyes!" She clutched and covered her face as the dirt got into her eyes.

"Create Water! Freeze!" After that he completely doused her in water, then froze her in place. With her stuck in place he walked over and hit her pressure points, knocking her out.

"I knew you were a strong adventurer, but this is something else," Iris commented. So she knew.

"There's nothing to gain by trying to fight me Princess."

"Actually there is, I want to see how I'd do as an adventurer." She unsheathed a sword, one that she was able to wield despite it clearly being one a girl her size shouldn't be able to.

"Now, don't hold back! Exertion!" She swung her sword and he rose up the shield that he was holding. She cut straight through it and the two pieces clattered to the ground. This… this might be a little difficult. He began to run, "Sacred Lightning Blare!" A white bolt of lightning barely missed him, striking the wall behind him and punching a hole straight through it. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" He was up in the air now, so the blast struck the ceiling and obliterated a chandelier. Glass and crystal shattered to the floor like a hail of snow, cutting the exposed parts of his body on the way down. Like the others Iris seemed uncaring as to the amount of damage they caused trying to fight him, was there a way he could use that to his advantage? "Sacred Explode!"

In a move that would probably anger Megumin, Iris completely obliterated the wall behind him. It opened up to the courtyard with the reflecting pool laying right below it. If he could get out there, he should have a few more chances. But since he could do ranged attacks with a sword of all things, there was no saying that she wouldn't hit him in the back while he ran. Besides, he needed a distraction. Then he had an idea. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" Another bolt of lightning struck, obliterating a column in the room. The room shook. In the room were several columns supporting the roof. If he could just get her to knock them down he could get it to collapse, that would provide enough distraction for him to get out.

He leapt to one of the columns, "Sacred Lightning Blare!" She blew straight through another one. He jumped and rolled onto the floor near her, picking up Claire's sword. "Exertion!" Making her think he was coming into strike, she prepared to cut through the sword. Instead he managed to get over to one of the columns closer to her, causing her to cut straight through it with her own sword. He gave it a hard kick towards her as he ran off to another one. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" She blew the falling column to bits. He threw Claire's sword at her, "Exertion!" The sword was cut to ribbons this time, clattering to the floor as bits of metal. There was only one more column for her to destroy and it lay in the center of the room. He jumped to it. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" She blasted straight through it, the roof began to crumble.

He sprinted out of the falling apart room and splashed into the reflecting pool, there was the sound of stone and wood being obliterated from behind him. Bits of those materials came raining down as Iris stood above him. "That was smart, I never would have expected that! You fought me without even trying to land a blow. I won't let it happen again, I'll just show you how great of an adventurer I'll be!" It was hard to believe that he was fighting a young girl in a dress, and that she was one of the harder foes he'd faced. Then again one never seemed to really encounter any old people in this world. How strange. Iris charged forward with her sword, using no skills this time to do the attacking for her.

He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out his combat knife, unsheathing it and raising it. It was just enough to stop the sword from coming down on him. No matter how strong that sword was, titanium was stronger. He threw the sword and Iris back, then pulled something out from a pocket. He pulled the pin and tossed it into the water, it exploded. Water splashed up. "Freeze!" He froze the fountain of water as it fell through the hair.

"Sacred Explode!" Iris cut straight through it and it fragmented like shrapnel, hitting both him and her. Regardless he needed to get that sword away from her since it seemed to be the origin point for her strong attacks.

"Create Earth! Wind Breath!" He blew dirt into Iris' face, but unlike Rain she had the foresight to cover her face so her vision wouldn't be impaired,

Good, it still gave him an opening! "Steal!" He used Steal on Iris, but when the ability finished he found that he hadn't gotten the sword. Instead, he found that he'd gotten a necklace. Damn. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" That one just barely missed him, obliterating the spot of the water where he'd been standing. He couldn't stay in this reflecting pool forever, he'd have to come up with another plan to try and ambush her. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" That time it actually hit him. He can't say that he's felt a worse pain than what he'd felt then. His robes, jacket and dress shirt were completely vaporized. All that was left was the mask covering his face, his pants and his shoes. "I got a hit in!" She sounded gleeful, he felt like he was in pain. Unwilling to be hit again, especially since they were in water, he jumped out of the reflecting pool and onto the grass.

"You can't run! Sacred Lightning Blare!" The decorative tree he ran past was burnt to a crisp once it was hit by her skill, he kept running. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" It obliterated a fountain. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" It obliterated a small gazebo. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" How much mana did this young Princess have?!" He ran into the hedge maze, for some reason she didn't instantly blast it. "I'll track you, just like you taught me!" He heard her chase after him inside the hedge maze, always being a few turns behind him. Eventually he'd reach a dead end or she'd catch up with him, so he couldn't keep running like this. At one point in the hedge maze he stopped and jumped up, angling himself to the side to land on the other side of the hedge wall. He heard her make it to where he'd been and stop, she looked around.

He poked his hand through the hedge, "Steal!" In an attempt to get her sword again he used her skill. Again he didn't get it. This time, he got a ring.

"There you are! Sacred Explode!" He'd managed to get clear of the hedge wall before she blew straight through it. Though with how powerful that skill of hers was she practically obliterated half of the maze.

He stuffed the other piece of jewelry he'd somehow gotten into his pants pocket, he'd have to hold onto it for later. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" The blast went past him, destroying the statue of a man in the middle of the maze. "Sacred Explode!" The rest of the maze was obliterated with her attack, he kept on the move. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" That one went completely wide, managing to strike the palace behind him. He heard the sound of a collapsing tower and a large bell falling. It rolled off the roof of the palace and landed in the reflecting pool with a loud clang. Hmm… That gave him an idea. "Exertion!" She got closer to him, cutting straight through a tree he'd used as cover. He had to lead her back to the reflecting pool. Judging by how fast she'd been able to use her skills he finally determined how long it took her to cast them, meaning that he knew how long he had to run with her back turned to her before he had to evade. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" He sidestepped then began to run. He counted the seconds, the amount of time was short.

"Sacred Lightning Blare!" He sidestepped again. But he would have enough time. He threw Claire's staff, which he was still carrying with him, at Iris. "Exertion!" She cut it in half longways perfectly, it splitting and falling to either side of her. He'd kept running in the meantime. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" The blast missed him, hitting one of the walls that surrounded the palace and blasting a hole. They were close to the reflecting pool now. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" That one, this time, hit him on the back. He felt the skin on his back char. Were it not for the fact he'd been merged with his MJOLNIR he would have been dead for sure. But even with that he was still able to run, leaping over to the other side of the reflecting pool. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" That blast missed him, he changed directions to run alongside it. Iris was running through the water now to chase after him.

"Sacred Lightning Blare!" A small shed that was in the courtyard, presumably to store tools, was obliterated. Hopefully there'd been nobody inside it. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" Seriously, he was wondering how much mana there was in this little girl. She'd used over a dozen extremely powerful spells and somehow managed to keep going, let alone keep up with him. But even if she could do that it was about to change. He ran close to the bell. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" The lightning struck the metal bell in the water, it electrified. Iris was shocked with the rest of the reflecting pool, this gave him an opportunity.

"Steal!"

…

"E-eh?!" Iris squealed after she managed to regain her awareness. Yeah, he wasn't holding onto this one.

The next time he saw Chris or Eris, he'd have to ask for a skill that performed the same job as steal but without being random. The last thing he needed to happen was be branded a pervert just because of what he got from Steal. But because what he had received was so shocking to Iris, he managed to get another in. "Steal!" And this time, he got what he wanted. The sword was gone from Iris' hands and rested in his, he threw it far off to the side. "This fight is over-"

"Sacred Lightning Blare!" A lightning bolt blew past him. Alright, it seemed that at least one of her skills didn't require her sword. But he could tell that she was at least starting to get tired.

"I won't give up!" She panted out.

Well, if he couldn't do that then he just had to run. Using his last resort, he pulled out a brick from his pocket and tossed it into the reflecting pool. Then he ran. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" The blast struck a hole into the wall he was running towards, it'd make the perfect exit. Before he did that however, he made sure that neither he nor Iris were anywhere that brick. Having the kingdom's Princess serve as collateral damage wasn't on his bucket list either. When she was about to cast again, he activated the detonator. The C-12 brick exploded in the middle of the reflecting pool and kicked up a massive wall of water. It was enough to hide him and block and any more of Iris' attacks.

Aurdel jumped through the hole and rolled out onto the street. Houses nearby had lit up because of all the commotion that'd been caused. He ran as quickly as he could down the street. "A-Aurdel?!" He ran into Yunyun who'd been rounding the street corner, "What are you-?"

"No time to explain, teleport us out of here!"  
"G-got it! Teleport!" And with that their trip to the capital was finished.

**...Catching Up..,**

When they finished teleporting they appeared back at the mansion in Axel, everyone else was there. "Yunyun! What took so long?!" Megumin shouted, "And… And what happened?" She stared at him. His upper body was uncovered and his back was completely ruined.

"I'll… I'll get that for you. Heal!" Aqua healed him, allowing the skin to recover.

"I don't think I want to visit the capital again," he said. He sat down on the couch in the main room, Yunyun sat down next to him and leaned on his arm.

"Well you can't get far if you don't want to visit the capital," a voice said.

Aurdel looked up, "Another Spartan?"

"Hit the nail on the head," the man in brown MJOLNIR stood up. "So, what happened to your armor? You found a way to get it off?"

"Not even close, I don't think you want to go through what I did so I could look like this."

"Alright fair enough. Anyways, the name is Six. I was with Noble Team at Reach."

"Reach? Noble Team? So you were part of the bunch I kept hearing over comm chatter. Where's the rest of them if you're here?"

"Not sure, I came to this world myself to find out if they were here. Can't say I've found them yet, if they are here at all that is. But what happened to your team?"

"Three got wiped out when MAC rounds came down, the other two are alive in a bunker I brought them to. I didn't make it, I bled out. But you're one of the newer companies, aren't you?"

"You know about us Spartan IIIs?"

"Had to wrangle it out from Parangosky, she couldn't hide it from me after Ackerson had the bright idea to assign me to missions where you all went out in some stroke of genius that he thought would be ironic. Mamore, New Constantinople, Far-Gone."

"Those were Alpha missions, I'm Beta Company. B Three One Two." Six took off his helmet and placed it on the table. "But you're a two, so how do you look as young as me?"

"It's a long story that isn't worth telling." Yunyun look up from his arm and up towards his face, realizing that what Six had said was right. He really did look much younger now. "Now, do you plan to stick around?"

"No, I have things I need to get done. Just thought I'd see you before I left," he put his helmet back on. "By the way, they showed me that arsenal you had. I took the liberty of getting you some more mags and gear."

"Thanks, but how?"

The Spartan III put a hand on a bag that was on his side. "Out of all the things that blue haired idiot has done, giving this to me was the most useful of them all."

"Hey!" Aqua shouted, "You'll suffer divine retribution for comments like that!"

"I've already died once," he dismissed her completely. "The bag duplicates whatever's put into it, that's why I've been able to use my weapons without issue since I've been here."

"Again, thanks. Though I suppose I shouldn't hold you up."

"No issue here." Six gave Aurdel a quick salute, "See you around Sir." And he left, shutting the mansion door behind him.


	27. Chapter 27

**...Summons…**

With an actual stretch of time to get things done, Aurdel worked on his Warthog. He wanted to get at least some work done since he'd constantly been interrupted by people coming to him. Of course Megumin and Darkness complained about it for their own reasons, so he let them go out and do their thing. They ended up coming back covered in frog slime. But he still had to get his work done, so he didn't comment. Yunyun was watching as he worked, it was as if she wanted to say something but either she didn't know how or couldn't muster up enough bravery to say it. He wouldn't push her though, that wouldn't be right. Though it was also because Megumin was hovering around, she would probably jump on him if he tried to get anything out of Yunyun. "Excuse me," a man said. Aurdel looked up from his work. There stood an older man dressed in a suit with black but graying hair. "Would you happen to be the owner of this mansion, Aurdel Ganowicz?"

"I am," he stood up. "And who might you be?"

"I am simply a servant of Lord Alderp. I come to you with an invitation, for my lord wishes to speak with you." Another invitation? And with another noble no less? Jesus. The last thing he needed was being invited and then being kidnapped again. This was especially since all though a week had passed since he'd left the capital, he still felt sore from Iris's lightning strikes. That was even with the healing Aqua had provided him and the baths he'd taken up try and soothe it. "I'm afraid it is a matter of life and death."

"A matter of life and death?" That was a different case however, one he could make exceptions for.

"Yes, the well being and existence of this town is at stake. Without your help things might go awry and cause it's destruction."

"How soon would I have to leave to meet your master?"

"As soon as possible preferably. But, that is if you're willing to go."

"I'm willing. Tell your master to expect me." The man gave a grateful bow to Aurdel, then left.

"Do you really have to leave again?" Yunyun lowered her head, "I don't want you to have to leave us again, there's something that I have to tell you."

He put a finger under her chin and raised her head, "Don't worry, I won't leave you all. Besides, I'll be willing to hear it no matter what it is."

"I-I don't know if I can say it, not yet."

"Then take all the time you need, I won't make you rush into anything if you don't have to." And Yunyun looked up at him with a smile.

"There's something that I need to tell you too," Megumin said, not facing him. "But I'm not sure if I want to say it either, it's embarrassing." The two Crimson Demons glared at each other, like they were fighting a long ongoing battle. He… didn't particularly know what they wanted from him.

"Again, all in good time I suppose." That got them to stop glaring for a moment, "But I suppose we should check out what this Alderp wants from me."

"I don't know what he would want from you," Megumin said, "But it can't be good. All the rumors I've heard about him are negative, no one in town likes him. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he would do the kind of things that Darkness wants from a man." Really? Then it was a bad sign to begin with.

"Megumin, can you go everyone and tell them to get ready? I'll be inside in a second to explain everything."

"Sure…" She shot a glance at Yunyun before leaving. What was up with these two?

"Aurdel," Yunyun tugged on his sleeve. "After we meet with this noble, can we go to the Crimson Demon village? Just the two of us?"

"I wouldn't mind, the others probably will though."

"Oh, then we don't-"

"I'm not saying we can't go, so don't give your hopes up just yet. And smile," Yunyun smiled. "Let's head inside, I can already imagine a few people that would be making a fuss over this summons."

And he was right. "Eh?! Why do we have to go somewhere else so soon?! We only just back and I've barely had any time to relax!" Aqua complained. "I don't wanna go!"

"What do you do that justifies needing to relax so much? You hardly do anything productive or worthwhile."

"I am Goddess! I should be allowed to do whatever I want for as long as I want whenever I want."

"How did I know you'd say that? Aqua, nobody is going to start believing you any time soon just from you saying it's true."

"But I am a Goddess and you know that's true! But if we HAVE to go on a quest then I should get the highest reward."

"It's not even a quest, it's just someone wanting to speak with us. Even if it was, why should you get the most?" She began to speak, "And do it without falling back on the same excuse."

It looked like she thought for a moment, "I am a-!"

"I said without using the same reason!"

Aqua crossed her arms, "Why should I have to give any other reason? Besides, I don't want to go on this dumb trip anyways."

"Relax Aqua," Darkness put a hand on her shoulder, "It's necessary to protect the town against any threat that may arise, no matter what it is or the circumstances."

"But why?!"

"You live in this town you idiot! What do you mean why?!" He shouted.

"Well personally I don't like this," Anatalia stretched herself out on the couch, resting her head on the armrest and staring up at him. "I already have little trust and faith in nobles, but with everything I've heard about this one it's bound to be nothing but lies and treachery on his part. And recently I think we've dealt enough with nobility."

"I can understand why you'd say that…" he soothed has still aching back, "But even so it's bad to leave something like the safety of the town up in the air."

"I suppose you are right… That's probably why he went to you. He's the ruler of this town and doesn't want it lost by any means necessary."

"Exactly, but what about the rest of you? Any issue with going?"

"I don't mind really," Megumin said, "As long as I can use my explosion I'm fine."

"I'm fine with it too, I just want to go to that place once we're done," Yunyun finished.

"I suppose it's settled then. Alright, everyone get ready. I suggest you take the dresses you wore to the dinner, but make sure to bring your combat gear." He himself was going to wear his suit, freshly repaired after it was practically obliterated in the fight against Iris. He packed a duffel bag with his combat gear, putting his magnum, a few magazines, some explosives and some first aid supplies. He kept his combat knife sheathed on the inside of his jacket, and on his side was his recently made sword. The sword was made of Damascus steel, or at least that's what it was called in his world. Where he was from the art of producing that kind of steel had been lost for centuries, but apparently was alive here. He'd have to learn to produce it himself.

They all came out of their rooms, dressed for the occasion. "Say, I forgot to ask but, what kind of rumors have actually been said about this Alderp guy?"

"He's a massive womanizer, and a real bastard to boot,"Anatalia filled him in. Married over a dozen times, each one divorced when he got bored of them and none of them got a single eris or pressed any kind of charge against him despite what he did to them. Besides that he's a fat older man, a little older than you." He really did sound like a bastard, that made their reasoning for not wanting to see what this guy wanted even more justified. But if it was for the town then it was for the town, and they had no other choice in the matter.

"My father had tried to make me marry his son on several occasions, but nothing came of it as I refused the offers. He's simply not the type of man that I want," Darkness stared off into the distance and she began rattling off nonsense.

"The man that I want can't look normal, he has to be either too skinny or extremely out of shape. On top of that he must be weak willed in every way, except in enforcing his sick and cruel perversions upon others. Every day when he comes out of his room, after lazing about, he'll complain about his debts and problems and how they're all society's faults. Then he'll throw his empty bottles at me and abuse me, finally saying, 'Hey Darkness, go use that slutty body of yours to earn me some money.' That is what I desire!" They were all staring at her as he panted, imagining the situation she'd drawn up in her mind and stated out loud. "What's with that look? Did I say something strange?"

"Yes, extremely. So take off that dress because white is supposed to be a pure color." Moments like this made him wonder what kind of cruel joke had been played by the universe for someone to be called Darkness. Regardless, by what she'd said Alderp perfectly fit the description of her perfect man. Worrying.

* * *

"Please, right this way. We welcome you Aurdel Ganowicz," the servants opened the doors to the mansion in front of them. They'd arrived at the mansion in a carriage provided by Alderp, possibly done in order to butter him up for whatever was to come of this meeting. The interior and exterior of the mansion itself were extremely glitzy, painfully so. It appeared even more showy than that of the royal palace in the capital. It was as if a billionaire wanted to show off all his life savings and put them inside a transparent vault, then moved it into the middle of a town square. How much of an ego did someone need to have to put up an appearance like this?

"Hey, something smells off here," Aqua said while sniffing the air, "Something unholy."

"Are you sure that it isn't you?"

"Of course it's not me you idiot! There's something in this mansion, and I'm going to go and look for it!" Aqua walked off. Aurdel looked to Yunyun, giving an expression that screamed, 'Please go after her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid.' Understanding his message, she followed Aqua. The others were all led to their own rooms for now, him being separated from them and taken to a dining hall. The doors in front of him were pushed open. Inside, before him, was a long table covered in embroidered table cloth and lined with rich food and wine. At the end opposite to him was one man, only one man. This man was of medium height, tall in this world but still much shorter than him, and fat, dressed in clothing expected of nobility and possessing blonde hair. This was Alderp.

"Ah, Aurdel Ganowicz, it is a _pleasure_ to finally meet you." That greeting stressed the fact that there was no pleasure in this meeting. "Please sit."

Aurdel sat opposite to Alderp at the table. "You know why I called you here, that reasoning was partly a lie." Perfect, off to a great start already. "But there is something greatly important to me that I would need your help with."

"And what might that be?" Not only did this noble not respect Aurdel, but he'd lied to him as well. There would be no issue with denying him here, but there was something that pushed him forward.

"The lovely Lalatina is a member of your party, is she not? You've seen her luscious body, her curvaceous form. That is what I desire most, it is something that I would pay any price to have." Aurdel should quit being an adventurer and become an oracle with how well he was able to predict this. "Ever since I've laid my eyes on her I've dreamt of her being mine to have, but her father won't allow me to do that. But.. With someone aside from me, one with great influence, a _hero _like you might be able to convince him otherwise. After all, why not listen to the wishes of a _hero _of the kingdom? One who has slain numerous Generals."  
Now Alderp was doubly laying on an insult. Not only did he not respect him, but he refused to acknowledge Aurdel's accomplishments. Normally he was not one for ego, but he couldn't help but feel angrier with this man. Not to mention, this fat old man was asking him to sell out his own party member. As much as he insulted and berated her, he wasn't about to do that. "And what might I get in return for my efforts to do so? Surely someone such as yourself that no deed is done for free."

"Yes, yes, of course. I'm willing to give you anything for. Except for Lalatina, of course. I suppose a situation in which, theoretically, the Dustiness household encounters a crisis, one that has it's head discredited. And in order to save it from disbandment a new, popular face will have to be chosen. A certain _hero _might be able to fit that claim."

So not only did Alderp want him to sell out his own companion, but as a form of payment he would destroy his companion's family. A real bastard indeed… There had to be something to this that he wasn't seeing, he felt like there was something in the back of his head nudging him to keep this conversation going. It wasn't enough to take him over though, years of conditioning against that kind of subliminal influence had done him well and stopped it from happening. "Of course today will be the day to show you the benefits of such a deal, all of them riches that might be afforded to you. So please, _enjoy_." Alderp clearly didn't want to have to host him, but did it begrudgingly because he wanted Darkness.

So he wouldn't let these efforts go to waste. Aurdel took one of the wine glasses and poured it out, then drank. It was of a fine quality, one that would be expected of the personal vintage of a noble. The others of his party, excluding Aqua, came in. He could see Alderp eyeing Darkness up as she walked in and sat down at the table, preparing to enjoy her meal. Anatalia in the meanwhile was glaring at Alderp with sharp, intense eyes. She looked like that if someone were to tilt their head the wrong way at her she'd pounce on and kill them. But they all sat down. Yunyun chose to sit down on his right side and leaned into his ear for a moment. "Aqua 'fell asleep,' but she did find something." Aqua had actually found something? Maybe she could be useful. "I"ll show you tonight, just wait until then."

* * *

Night arrived, Aurdel waited. He sat on his bed waiting for Yunyun to arrive, most likely through the door. Though he wasn't entirely sure if she'd be able to do it unseen since Alderp had servants patrolling the mansion during the night. Their doors were also locked, though he and the others should easily be able to undo them. Then there was a slight pop as Yunyun teleported in. "I didn't want any of his servants to see me in the halls and be alerted, that's why I teleported in. I have a point in each of our rooms."

"But you'll have to wait before you can teleport again and show me what Aqua found."

"Right," so they'd wait. Yunyun walked over and sat down next to him on the bed. She was quiet for a moment, then spoke. "Aurdel… what do you think of me?"

What he thought of her…? "Well," he started, "You're extremely kind, and considerate of others. You've never really demanded something from me or wanted something, unlike _those _three." She knew who he was referring to and nodded her head. "But on top of that you're always willing to help and have done a great amount for both this party and me. There's no one that could ever replace you. And while Megumin would kill me for saying this, you're a much better Archwizard than her. All in you're a great young lady and it was a shame to both hear and see how you were treated before." Hearing that made her look gleeful, she hugged his arm and rested her head on his side.

"Thank you… for saying that," she whispered quietly. He stroked her hair.

"Everyone deserves to be happy, including you." And they sat peacefully like that for a few minutes. Again he felt like there was something else that Yunyun wanted to say, but couldn't work up the courage right now. Eventually she sat up. "Alright, my spell is ready again. Let's go. Teleport!" And with that she teleported the two of them out of the room and into another, it was much darker in this one. The space they stood in looked like that of a cellar, Yunyun held out an unlit lantern to him.

"Tinder!" He lit the lantern and took it, illuminating the space around them. When it was completely lit he could see that there was someone else in the room. Chained to a wall."

"He's what Aqua found, I had to stop her from purifying him so I put her to sleep."

"Purifying? So he's a type of undead?"

"Close, he's a Devil. At least he says he's one, I didn't have the time to ask him many questions because I didn't want to make it extremely obvious we were snooping around. But his name is Maxwell." Aurdel crouched down next to the figure chained to the wall. His appearance was similar to that of Vanir, with butler-like attire, fair skin and glowing red eyes. But his hair was orange, and he appeared to have bruises all over. Frankly that baffled him, could a Devil really be hurt by physical blows? Sure he'd done something similar to defeat Vanir, but his mask was the only real part of him while the rest was dirt and sand.

"So Maxwell, what are you doing chained up in the dirty basement of a noble's home?"

"Yee~ I was summoned by Alderp to bring him Lalatina, I am forced to stay here in order to not make my presence known. Yee~" This Devil had an odd way of speaking, but it was almost in a way that made him pity it. To think, he could pity a Devil.

"He made a contract with you to bring him Lalatina?"

"Yee~ that is why I was summoned by him, but because I have not done it for him he beats and kicks me. Yee~" Again, he couldn't imagine himself pitying a Devil in the past but here he was. He began to stroke it's head as if it was a child.

"What if I were to help you complete your contract?" The Devil made an inquisitive kuu sounding noise. "I can provide Lalatina to you, and you can physically bring her to him. That way you can fulfil your contract. So, what do you say?"

**...Binding Agreements...**

They'd cut Maxwell's chains, then Yunyun and Aurdel teleported out of the cellar and back to his room. He sat back down on his bed, "Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We'll have to plan out how we're going to do this without Alderp catching on."

She sat down next to him, "I'm sure we can come up with something, we just need to tell the others about it in the morning before it happens."

"Maybe… Yunyun, can you make sure everyone is in one place while I meet with Alderp tomorrow? Make sure Aqua is knocked out too, I don't want her messing anything up."

"I can do that, what else?"

"You'll wait by the door until I say the words, 'a woman truly befitting yourself.' When I do, you'll run back to the cellar and teleport Maxwell to the hall where everyone is waiting. Then from there you'll allow him to physically enter with Darkness and present her to Alderp."

"I should be able to do that, you can count on me Aurdel!" She smiled and looked up at him. "By the way… can I stay in your room for the night? If it isn't too much of an issue." She seemed a little anxious asking the question.

"Sure, I don't see any issue with letting you stay here. Megumin will probably complain in the morning if she sees that you did, but she can get over it." Yunyun let out a sigh of relief, was that what she wanted to ask him? He laid down in bed and pulled the covers over himself, Yunyun laid down next to him. After a moment of what appeared to be hesitation, she pulled in close to him and put her arms around him.

She exhaled, "It's hard to believe someone so strong can be so gentle."

* * *

Aurdel woke up the next morning. It wasn't exactly early but it wasn't late into the day. Yunyun had already left his room, presumably to go inform the others of the plan that was in place. She really was reliable. He got out of bed and changed back into his suit, making sure to carry his magnum and combat knife inside of it. If something didn't go according to plan and they had to fight their way out he could at least make it back to his room so he could get his sword and properly escape. But hopefully, that didn't have to happen. After checking himself one last time and refreshing himself in the bathroom he left the room he'd been afforded, walking out into the hallway.

When he walked through the hallway he saw that five of the other doors in it were cracked open, there were people looking out of the cracks. Yes, they'd all gotten the message. They all knew what would happen. He was escorted back to the dining hall by one of Alderp's servants, a large buffet of breakfast awaited him there. "Ah, Aurdel. Please, sit down," the fat nobleman said. He'd already begun on breakfast before he'd arrived, a large plate of food before him. It was covered in baked goods, eggs, bacon and various deserts. He scarfed them down like there was no tomorrow.

Well, there might very well be no tomorrow for him depending on what Maxwell might do with Alderp once the contract was completed. Aurdel sat down at the same seat he'd had the day before, a similar array of foods was presented to him. He wouldn't at much though, it's not like he needed a mountain to get through the day anyways. "So tell me, how have you enjoyed living in such luxury? Have you explored all of its depths?"

"I have," Aurdel played along, "And it is more than I ever could have asked for."

Alderp had an evil grin, "I knew that you would see things my way, there are no real heroes in this world. Only those that pretend to be moral do-gooders to receive a greater reward would claim to be heroes." Alderp shoveled a spoon full of eggs into his mouth and sloppily ate it. "After all, the people who truly deserve rewards are those like me. Those who hold the power."

He wiped his mouth with a napkin around his neck, "But there are also those, those who recognize true power. And the handing over of Lalatina is surely a worthy price for the power and wealth that you seek."

"Indeed, Lataina truly is something else. But, she is a woman truly befitting yourself."

"Isn't she? I can already tell we will be great partners in the future, I have many more plans to raise ourselves up."

"Really? What might those be?"

"Perhaps I shouldn't tell you, but I feel generous. Especially with this wine!" Alderp gave a hearty laugh and spilled some of the wine on the carpet, shaking the glass.

"Listen to this. Some time ago I acquired a powerful tool, one that was used by a 'hero' of old. Now this 'hero' died quite some time ago and their tool drifted around, eventually it came into my possession. This tool allows whoever uses it to switch with whoever they want, no matter who they are. Think about it, pure immortality!" He laughed again, "And right now that tool is upon the Prince's neck, I could take his body whenever I want! Then from there I would be set to rule the country, take whatever I want! And you can do it with me." He leaned in over the table, "I'm sure someone like you wouldn't be opposed to that, wielding absolute power."

"No, I wouldn't be opposed to having the power to control one's own fate and the lives of others. Doing so should be the end goal of all those who seek power."

"Indeed! Now where have you been for my whole career? To have had someone at my side since the beginning, it would have been an honor. But now that you're here we can truly rule over the weak willed and those unfit to hold power!" He raised a wine glass, "To our health!"

"To our health, and the warmth that hell will bring you!" Alderp looked at him confused as Aurdel drank his wine from his glass.

"What did you say…?" The doors suddenly burst open, Alderp nearly toppled from his chair in surprise.

"Yee!~ Alderp! I have brought you Lalatina! Yee!~" Maxwell said, holding Darkness by the shoulder.

"L-let go of me you Devil!" Darkness pretended to be struggling, but it was clear that even if she hadn't known it was set up she was enjoying it.

"Max?! How did you escape the cellar?! You weren't supposed to see them! You-!"

"Yee!~ I have completed the contract, now you must pay your price! Yee!~"

"I've already paid your price several times you forgetful beast!"

"Then allow me to rectify the score," Aurdel stood up from the chair, pushing it backwards. "Maxwell, I will make a contract with you now." Aurdel looked at the Devil, then pointed a finger as Alderp. "Drag him to hell."

"Y-you! How could you?! After everything I-?!" Alderp was furious with him, but he couldn't express it for very long.

"Yee!~ Yee!~" Alderp suddenly grasped his neck as if he was being choked, a pit of fire appeared beneath the struggling noble. "Yee!~ Yee!~ I will complete your contract! Yee!~" Alderp was plunged into the fiery pit below him, Maxwell lept in after him. After that it shut.

"Aurdel, don't you think that was a little overdoing it?" Darkness asked, walking up to him and looking where the nobleman had fallen to hell.

"No, not at all. No good deed goes unpunished, and with all of those I suppose it was about time that he had his just due." He thought for a moment, "Though we're most likely going to be suspected in his disappearance now, a nobleman simply doesn't go missing."

"Actually, that's another thing…"

"Hmm?" What was she talking about?

"When Yunyun brought Maxwell out, he didn't come straight to the door to bring me to Alderp. He actually performed a trip around the mansion and performed some spell on the servants and staff. They all think that Alderp willingly bequeathed his estate and noble house to you, then left in exile due to self shame."

"He did what?" Aurdel needed to confirm what he'd heard. But even after Darkness repeated it, he couldn't believe it any more than he had before. "Who really knows what happened?"

"All of us, except Aqua. Yunyun put her to sleep and I think she'll just go with what we tell her anyways." She paused, "But what happens now?"

He was stumped, "You know, I don't exactly know. I didn't have any idea something like this would happen to begin with. You just have to give me some time to figure it out." And the two of them walked out of the room, back to the rest of his party.

"Aurdel, now that you're a nobel give me a really important position!" Megumin shouted, getting close up to his face given her excitement.

"Sure… you're the Minister of Explosion."

"Awesome!" She let out a laugh and flung her cape. "I am Megumin, foremost Archwizard of the Crimson Demons and the Minister of Explosion!"

"I don't think that's a real position…" Darkness said quietly.

"Hush, let her have her moment."

"What about me?" Anatalia said, walking up to him and swiping his chin with her tail.

"You can be the Treasurer, and head of the maids."

"Treasurer I can understand, but why head of the maids?"

"You did say when I first met you that you'd even be willing to be our maid."

She put a finger up to her chin, "Yes, I suppose I did."

"What about me?" Darkness asked, "After all, I was the one in the most danger."

"You're already a noble, you have no part in this." And with his quick rejection she squeezed herself in enjoyment. Yunyun tugged at his arm. Right, she wanted to visit her village. "But since we're done here, can you all wait for a moment? Me and Yunyun have to go and run an errand."

"You and Yunyun?!" Megumin shouted

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"O-of course n-not, I just didn't expect it," Megumin turned away from Yunyun, she was obviously hiding how she was really feeling about it.

"If you say so. Yunyun, if you would please?"

"Of course, Teleport!"

* * *

When they finished teleporting they were back in the Crimson Demon village, standing up on a hill looking down upon the landscape. From here they were able to see all of the homes in the village, further off in the distance they were able to see the place where the battle that had defeated the Demon King's forces in the areas had taken place. It was still smoldering, the area having been nearly entirely burned down from all of the magic that'd been used to destroy the camp. "Sit down please," Yunyun said. So he sat down on the grass, she sat down next to him. "It… it took me a lot of time to come up with the courage to say this, even if it's something that I said to you before." She shuffled in place a bit, "You remember when we first had to come to my village, right?"

"I do. You got a letter from your father that it was under attack, and Arue's story was with it and because of it you thought that you had to make a family with me."

"R-right," she was still a little embarrassed of what had happened such a while ago now. "But all that time ago I said… I said that I loved you. And that's still true!" She was struggling somewhat to keep going, but she pushed forward. "That's why… That's why I want to be with you!" She squeezed her eyes as if she was going to be faced with a hard rejection. "You don't have to say yes, I understand if you don't want to and I want you to be happy."

He relaxed his shoulders and embraced her, tucking her close to his chest. "You deserve to be happy too Yunyun. And if you're happy, that's enough for me." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, there were tears on her cheeks and a smile on her face.

* * *

**AN: Happy Valentine's Day**


	28. Chapter 28

**...Man's Best Friend…**

"Magic, no matter how good it may be, will never be able to stand up to technology."

"Aurdel, I think we heard well enough the first time you said it. If not then, then it was the second, third of fourth," Darkness chided him. "But why do you keep saying it? You're only holding a sword, the only abnormal thing about it is the strange thing you've embedded in the handle. Does it even serve a purpose?"

"Of course it serves a purpose, why wouldn't it? Didn't any of you hear any of what is explained?"

"Not really," Anatalia said while sipping on a cup of tea, "We weren't particularly listening as we were occupied with that device Aqua has with her." She was referring to the game console that Aqua had taken from the bunker at the Crimson Demon village so long ago, the one she was currently playing in front of the fireplace with the others crowded around her. He'd considered tossing it in but he didn't want to hear Aqua's wailing afterwards because of it, there was also the fact that it was technically a small computer. Something he could try duplicating and improving if he could even get the damn thing out of their hands.

"I suppose I am a little interested now though, if you're trying to get us to hear it so much," Darkness turned away from Aqua and the others.

"Then why don't we take a quest? It'll be a lot easier to show it than to explain it." Darkness shot up, much more interested now.

"What kind of quest? Will it be one with really tough monsters?! One with a horde of creatures that'll trample all over me?! Will it be one with monsters that will hold me down and-?!"

"Can please you go one conversation relating to quests without doing that?! Realy, I understand you're into that kind of thing but I don't want to have to hear about it constantly."

"T-that… kind of thing!~" And she tipped over, "So insulting of other's tastes and desires!"

"You're hopeless…" He shook his head, "What about the rest of you? Are any of you coming with us?"

"I will!" Yunyun shot up, ready to go. He expected that. Something else he expected was Megumin jumping up to go too since Yunyun wanted to go.

"An Archwizard like myself can't rest on her laurels, not when I play such an important role."

"Not going, I'm busy," Aqua said, totally enamored with the game console.

"Not even if I gave you a large portion of the reward?"

"Nope," she kept playing, "I still have money leftover from the reward we got from the Princess, so I don't need any right now." Right now was the key word. The only reason she managed to hold on to that money was him physically restraining her from spending it all at once. The moment he walked out she'd find a way to do so.

"In that case. Anatalia, can you make sure she doesn't do anything stupid?"

"Sure can do boss," and she put her feet up on the armrest of the couch.

"Wait, why do you think I would do something stupid?!"

"If you can't answer that question yourself by now, you clearly shouldn't spend your time playing games." He turned to the rest of them, "Alright, grab your gear and let's go. We'll need to make a stop somewhere so I can look for what we need before we complete the quest I have in mind."

* * *

"Hey, Aurdel, isn't going to the capital really out of the way for our quest?"

"Yeah, and isn't it somewhat dangerous to go here after what happened. Both Darkness and Yunyun were questioning his choice to go to the capital, but he had his reasons.

"Sure it's out of the way, but I'm here because I'm looking for someone. As for it being dangerous it's only dangerous if we go near the royal palace. I don't plan to go within eyesight of it." The quest that he'd chosen to take was one that had sat on the quest board of Axel's guild for a long time, the subjugation of the Manticore and Griffin. That quest had been there since he first came to this guild and was still on it now, with no person aiming to complete it any time soon.

"Who could you possibly be looking for, especially with the kind of quest we have? Aren't we going to kill the creatures ourselves?"

"Yeah, I can take both of them out with one hit from my Explosion!" Megumin shouted, raising her staff. "So why do all this? Especially when I can have the honor of taking them out."

"Because as hypocritical as it may be for someone like me to say, killing isn't everything there is to solving a problem. Sometimes you have to take a tamer approach."

"What kind of approach?" Darkness asked.

"Well in this case, a literal taming approach." He began to explain his idea, "Where I'm from animal domestication is a common practice, we've done it for millenia. So I figured that here the same practice occurs but with a different manner of domesticating. After looking into it, I was right. Here you do it with skills."

"You want to tame a Griffin and Manticore?" Darkness asked with disbelief.

"If it can be done. From what I've read there are four key factors to a successful subjugation of a monster or animal. The first is luck, second is charisma, third is the user's level and fourth is the amount of creatures the user had subjugated. Those first three I have under lock easily, as I have high luck and charisma along with a high level to boot. Unfortunately for the last one, this would be my first time subjugating anything. But hopefully those other three stats can make up for my lack in that one."

"If your plan is to subjugate them then why are we here in the capital? Wouldn't it be better to look for someone with that skill closer to the wild?" Yunyun asked. It was a reasonable question, one that had an easy understanding for why it was asked.

"That does make sense given its purpose, but that would mean we'd have to travel through a plethora of frontier towns to look for those that have it. And given that domestication can be passed through generations, there isn't much reason to learn it for animals you already have domesticated. Otherwise I could have just walked up to some farmer back in town to learn it."

"I suppose you are right… but still, why the capital?"

"I chose the capital because I know for sure that there's someone here that knows the skill. "While I was kidnapped by the Princess she told me about all the kinds of heroes there are here, she's met a lot of them. One of them includes a hero by the name of Aristus."

"I know that name," Darkness said, "He's one of the few heroes that doesn't have some extremely powerful ability of piece of equipment."

"Right, it wouldn't do me any good if the person I was looking for only had it because of some ability like that. Aristus used it to tame a pack of wolves that follows him around, at least that's what I heard from Iris. I can't say I know for sure if that's true because I haven't met the man."

"Then I suppose this is the right place to look for him… I know that nobles sometimes enlist his help to get exotic pets," Darkness added. "My father hasn't, but I know of others."

"Exactly, if there's any place for nobility to gather it's here in the capital." They kept walking, before eventually stopping before a building. The building in front of them was known as the Hero Bar, with the capital being known for its overabundance of cheat user 'heroes' one could assume why this bar was called that. He pushed open the door and the four of them stepped in. The bar was a mix of various styles. Each of them was one from his own world, no doubt all of the heroes that were here and had been here had left their mark in time. A crowd of faces turned towards them as they entered, quite a few of them were solely looking at the women of his party.

He made sure to guard them defensively as they walked through the bar, with eyes trailing them as they walked through. Most of the people in this bar were high levels given they'd all spent more time than him here and with much more powerful abilities than his own. Granted, that didn't mean he was guaranteed to lose to them. But he would avoid any fight that he didn't have to take. He walked towards the corner of the bar where there was a man sitting by himself at a small table. All around him was a small pack of six wolves, not White Wolves but still big and still dangerous. Draped on him was a leather armor draped in a large fur, scars covered his face. The weapon he had beside him was a halberd, a smart weapon choice to keep dangerous animals at more than arm's length away from him. "Are you Aristus?" He asked.

"The man looked up from his drink, "I am, and who might you be?"

"My name is Aurdel Ganowicz, and I'm looking to learn your Subjugation skill," he extended his hand out to the man. Aristus reluctantly shook it.

"And why would you want to learn it? An adventurer like you looks like they wouldn't need to learn such a skill, you'd just kill anything in your path."

"I don't plan to kill the two monsters my quest involves, it'd be a waste."

"Oh? So maybe you are different. That doesn't change a thing though. I won't teach you it for nothing."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want you to fight me and my pups, alone. And you won't have any weapons."

"I'll do it."

"Aurdel?! Isn't that a little dangerous?!"

"Sure, but it makes sense. What's the point in having a skill if you won't use it? That's why none of the cheat users in this world learn anything, they don't have to. They have their abilities all set out for them and then flounder when they don't have them. That's why Mitsurugi died."

"Exactly, I don't plan to teach my skills to some buffoon who gets slaughtered the moment he steps out into battle."

* * *

They were both set up on opposing sides of a large field of tall grass, neither could see the other due to a hill in the middle of the field. They were waiting for a signal to begin. Aurdel crouched low to the ground, "Create Earth!" He covered himself in dirt. If he was going to be fighting wolves along with this hero then he was going to have to hide his scent from them. By the time he finished a fireball was flung into the air. It was the signal for the fight to begin. Getting on his hands and knees he dashed through the grass, he was going to lead them on a chase. Some of the grass that he dashed through ended up trampled. Normally that would be a bad thing to do if one didn't want to be noticed, but if one wanted to set up a trap it could easily work in one's favor.

He quickly pulled out some of the grass that he'd trampled over and dug a small pit in the ground using his hands, it'd take them some time before he got to them so he could afford to do this. "Create Water!" He filled the pit with water and covered it with the torn out grass, sprinkled dirt on top to better hide it. Soon enough he began to hear barking and the sound of footsteps approaching. They were following his trail. He ducked into the brush and moved to a position that allowed him to view the trap from the direction its be approached. The wolves and Aristus ran straight past him and towards where he stopped, stopping right before the trap. The wolves sniffed around for his scent one went behind the man's legs. "Wind Breath!" He blew cold air onto the wolf, surprising it and causing it to recoil into the back of Aristus' legs. It caused him to lurch forward imbalanced, falling knees first into the water. "Freeze!" He jumped out and froze the water.

Ready to attack the man that attacked their master, the wolves charged at him. "Tinder!" The tall grass went ablaze and the wolves, he heard the shattering of ice. Aristus had his halberd in his hands and used it to break the ice, standing up again. He pointed it at Aurdel and thrust the weapon forwards with great speed, Aurdel sidestepped to avoid it. Aristus repeatedly struck towards him but never managed to connect a hit, but still forced Aurdel back. He knew what he was trying to do. He turned around for a moment, allowing the halberd to somewhat pierce his back as he raised his fist to slap aside two of the wolves attempting to pounce on him from behind. Quickly he whipped back around and used his motion to dislodge the halberd and cause Aristus to hit it's tip into the ground.

Aurdel brought his left heel down hard onto the shaft and broke off the weapon's tip, then jumped back to allow himself a moment to recover. Aristus slid his down the remainder of the halberd, changing his grip and hand positioning to now use it as a staff. This man was versatile in combat, a feat to be applauded. "Create Earth! Wind Breath!" Aurdel blew a mound of dirt at Aristus, who spun the now staff quick enough to blow it away and stop himself from being blinded. He charged at Aurdel again aiming to get several blows to his side and low body, none hit aside from one horizontal blow to his side. The grass around them was still burning, he'd used that to his advantage. "Wind Breath!" He used the wind to fan the flames, creating more smoke to fill the air and blind him that way.

Aristus was disoriented by it and seemingly allowed Aurdel to retreat back, moving to a position now behind the hero. Then he charged forward, Aristus heard it and quickly turned around. Rather than point his weapon to strike Aurdel he swiped the burning grass around him, creating a cloud of smoke as Aurdel got closer. Not wanting to throw himself into the unknown Aurdel acted to disperse it, "Water Breath!" And he sprayed some of the burning grass, tilting his head back to avoid a blow when Aristus' staff came bursting through. He kicked one leg up and struck the center of the staff, he could hear both a snap and a crack come from both Aristus and the staff. The staff broke in half, while Aristus' shoulder that had been holding it was dislocated from the force. The hero kept fighting though.

Aurdel grabbed the broken off piece of the staff and engaged Auristus in close quarters. The two of them went back and forth, the one assaulting another and the other blocking their attacks. Were it not for the difference in size and strength it would've been very possible for someone like Aristus to defeat him in a fight. Out of nowhere one of the wolves leapt out of the tall grass and sank its teeth deep into Aurdel's right arm, Aristus took the opportunity to strike at Aurdel. But Aurdel also took the opportunity, one to throw the hero off of his game. Mere inches before he struck, Aristus recoiled with the remaining piece of staff as Aurdel moved the head of the wolf in the path of his blow. With not enough time to recover Aurdel swiftly kicked out the legs under the man and crouched down close to him, pointing the piece of staff he had at his throat. "You are good."

**...Battle of Will...**

"That hero really was something else," Megumin said, "He's a little like you Aurdel, if I'm going to be honest."

"I won't say you're wrong, but in what way do you see it?"

"Well, he wasn't overconfident in his abilities. And while he did take the initiative several times to attack he never overextended himself. Not to mention he was able to keep fighting with that dislocated shoulder, I can only think of a few people who would keep going after an injury like that."

"He's certainly one of the better heroes that I've met, one I wouldn't mind fighting beside." The snow crunches under their feet. They'd left the capital long ago and were now in the mountains that sat near Axel. These two creatures had been fighting here for some time now, how neither had been victorious after so long was beyond his capability to answer. "Have any of you actually seen either creature before? And no, the petrified one at your village doesn't count before you ask."

"In that case, no," Yunyun said, "They're usually a rare monster, that's why they yield a high bounty both dead and alive."

"I've only heard stories of them, but those stories make me wonder what it would be like to face them in battle." She placed her hands on her blushing face, "The thoughts themselves excite me, the ability to fly gives so many more opportunities for shame."

"Please… find another hobby," he pleaded. They came closer to where the Griffin and Manticore had been reported. Normally when you were tracking a creature, or even a pair of creatures, it wouldn't be evident where they went, but it was different here. Trees were torn up and splintered, craters peppered the ground and soil was turned up everywhere.

The bodies of various forest creatures lay strewn about the area as well, they'd obviously gotten in the middle of the two creatures fighting. That would be them if they weren't careful."Hey, Aurdel, is it really safe for us to be doing this without Aqua nearby? What if something happens?"

"If anything happens I'll make sure to hold them back long enough so you all can teleport away, then I'll make my way back."

"Don't say that…" Yunyun said quietly, "We don't want to have to leave you behind."

"Granted I'm not saying that it's what will happen, I'm just saying that it's what we'll do in the case that something does. So keep your chin up," he tried to ease their worries a little, "Look, best case scenario I use Subjugation on the two creatures and we walk away with both a reward and two beasts of burden. Worst case scenario, we have to complete the quest another day."

"I suppose you're right."

"Alright Aurdel, what's our plan?"

"Darkness, you're tough right?"

"Of course I'm tough, I'm a Crusader. I can take any beating and abuse that comes my way, no matter how wonderful or mind breaking it-"

"Yes or no would have sufficed," he said exasperated, "Look, you're going to serve as bait for at least one of the creatures."

"Oh I'd love to do that!"

"That's not why I'm making you do that! I'm making you serve as bait because Yunyun is going to paralyze one of the creatures, once they're paralyzed they'll come after us. When that time comes you'll be occupying the other so she can paralyze them."

"What about me?" Megumin asked, "Do I do anything?"

"You're the backup in case I'm not able to use Subjugation on at least one them, will d that happens you'll blow them up with Explosion."

"Awesome," she held her staff forward, "I hope it doesn't, then I'll get two titles out of this." She threw her cape, "I am Megumin! Foremost Archwizard of the Crimson Demon village, Minister of Explosion and slayer of the legendary Griffin and Manticore!"

"Yeah don't get ahead of yourself." They kept walking. The destruction around them began to look more and more recent, they were getting closer to where the Griffin and Manticore were fighting. They even started to hear the sound of some of the fighting off in the distance, the sound of roars and screeches too. Trees shattered and their tops fell to the ground as deadly shrapnel, Aurdel threw a blanket he had with him into the air to stop it from impacting them. "It's easy to see why they want them gone."

The two beasts soared overhead, striking at each other over and over with tremendous force. Air cracked with each strike from their talons and claws, moving at speeds one would expect from a small plane. "Yunyun, wait until they're as stationary as possible before you cast your magic." They watched the two monsters go at each other, viciously trying to kill their foe. But neither was able to get a killing strike on the other even with all the scars they had. Then the Griffin launched itself at the Manticore, throwing it against a nearby rockface and pinning it. It raised its talons to strike its throat!

"Paralyze!" Yunyun cast her spell and paralyzed the Griffin, it fell backwards off of the Manticore and plummeted towards the ground smashing a tree on the way down. The Manticore looked stunned at first, then roared in assumption of victory over its long time foe.

Then it scanned the forest and found them. "Darkness, now it's-" But before he could even finish his statement she charged out into the open ready to be attacked by the Manticore. Words… couldn't describe what he felt about this every time she did it at this point. "Okay, stick together but not too close to me. If Subjugation doesn't work and the Griffin wakes up I don't want you to be some of its first targets." And they sprinted over towards where the Griffin had fallen, he could hear Darkness being attacked by the Manticore off in the distance.

"S-such strong teeth! But you will never defeat me f-foul beast!" This really was too much. The Griffin laid on the ground, there was a large amount of branches caught in its wings after having fallen from so far up. He could easily heal the creature if he needed to once it was under control.

He put a hand on it's head, gently. "Subjugation!" And a yellow came from his hand, tracing the Griffin's body with lines of the same color. Then they all disappeared at once. Had it worked? He saws it's eyes open slowly, taking in its surroundings. He held his breath for a moment as he was unaware of what it might do. Then it gently nuzzled him with its head as it fully came awake, he exhaled. It'd worked. He went about taking the branches out of the Griffin's wings and it sat up, not standing or stretching out due to the pain it was still in. Once clear of all the debris, he healed it. "Heal!" The wounds on its torso from the Manticore's claws healed, the tears in its wings resealed and feathers grew back. He stroked it's head.

"Aurdel, is it safe?" Megumin asked, hiding behind Yunyun.

"Yeah, it's safe. The guy is tame now." He scratched its beak gently, "Now, we go for the Manticore," and he climbed onto the Griffin's back.

"Aurdel, do you have any idea how to fly a Griffin?" He pulled the two of them up onto its back.

"No, no idea. But I suppose now is a good time to learn. Hyah!" Since he had no idea what he was doing he treated it like a horse, and it reared into the air flapping its giant wings. Then it shot up towards the sky. The other two held onto him for dear life as they flew, he himself nearly fell off. In time time he'd flown various aircraft, including Longswords, space yachts, cargo tugs, shuttles, Hornets and Falcons, but never something like this. The wind crashed into his face and blew through his hair. It all gave off an amazing feeling. He shifted slightly, readjusting his position on the Griffin. "Alright, lets go get the other one!" And he turned the Griffin back in the direction of Darkness' voice and the sound of the Manticore, it let out an eagles screech and dove down towards the two. Seeing both it and themselves, the Manticore shot up into the sky with Darkness in its claws.

"Don't worry Darkness, we'll save you!" Megumin shouted.

"Save me?! But I'm having so much fun!" She thrashed around in its claws, clearly enjoying the position of disempowerment she was in. The Griffin chased after the Manticore, flapping its wings graciously in an attempt to catch up to and eventually attack it. But the two flew at roughly the same speed so it was nearly impossible. The Manticore dove down, leading them in between trees and rock formations. They were able to avoid getting hit by them but he could purposefully see Darkness swinging herself to hit each one. And while this was most likely only to satisfy her fetish, it was unintentionally helping them.

Each time it slowed the Manticore by a small portion and allowed their Griffin to catch up bit by bit. Then she managed to throw herself hard against a spire of rocks, breaking both it and the grip the Manticore had on her. It roared as it went flying off from her. The Griffin opened its mouth and caught Darkness by her hair, she let out a squeal as she was. "Alright, now all we need to do is- HOLY CRAP!" He steered away from the direction they were previously heading as a massive set of teeth appeared out of nowhere, crushing the Manticore.

"A Dragon!" The others yelled. This quest just got a lot harder.

* * *

He'd only barely managed to steer clear from the oncoming Dragon, the Manticore wasn't anywhere near as lucky. He was just able to hear the sound of crushing bones and flesh as they flew away, as the Dragon began to go after them. He pulled Darkness onto the back of the Griffin. "Megumin, hit that Dragon with Explosion!"

"I-I can't! I don't want to unless w-we're on the ground!" Both her and Yunyun's grips were iron tight, their eyes squeezed shut. It was understandable. He himself was sent into a semi state of panic from encountering that Dragon. He pushed the Griffin as much as he could, wanting to put as much distance between them and the Dragon as possible. If Megumin has to be on the ground to do it then he didn't want it to be able to catch up and crush them as she casted. He should have brought Aqua along in case a threat like this showed up. Then again, he had no idea a Dragon was hiding out here in the mountains.

A roar of fire came out from somewhere behind the, the Griffin let out a screech of pain as it's tail burned. He cast Heal on it and patted it on the side of the head. "Don't worry buddy, just a little bit further." The soared past arches of rock, ones the Dragon easily tore through with its massive body. He made the Griffin dive, ducking into a narrow canyon the Dragon wouldn't be able to enter. They set down on the ground as the Dragon roared overhead.

Megumin swung her legs off the Griffin and down into the small stream at the bottom of the canyon. "Explosion!" She'd thrown all of her might into that one, he could tell by the stress on her face. But when the Explosion cleared...

"I-It didn't do anything!" Yunyun stammered, "It's still standing!" The Dragon was indeed still alive. Megumin's magic was strong, but clearly not strong enough to kill this Beast.

"Everyone, I want you to teleport back to Axel-"

"We're not going to leave you Aurdel! Don't say things like that, we know you have-!"

"I don't have a plan this time! I don't know what to do!" He looked away. He'd fought giant mechanical walkers, he'd fought armies of footsoldiers, he'd fought divisions of armored vehicles and he'd fought entire squadrons of aircraft. But this? He had no idea what to do. He'd never fought anything like it, and he had nowhere near the amount of resources that he had before. The least he could do was buy time for them to get ready. "I want you to go back to Axel, once the Dragon is done here he'll most likely head for the city. I want you to get everyone there ready for when it does." He looked back at them, there were tears in their eyes. "Look, fighting battles like this is what I was made for. So get going, I'll be right behind you," he gave a comforting smile.

He could clearly read the hesitation on their parts, they didn't want to leave him here to fight the Dragon. But they had no choice. Either they would all die here and then the town was attacked, or one of them did and the town had a chance. Yunyun put her hands on the other two, "T-Teleport!" And they teleported away.

He looked back to the Griffin, even it had a visible look of despair. "I know I haven't known you long big guy, but you've been great so far. So let's make this last effort count." He jumped up onto the Griffin's back, "Though I suppose I should give you a name, it'd only be fair before we go out and die." He thought for a moment, "How about… Everest?" Everest let out a screech, "If you don't like it, then we can decide on another later. But now… we have a job to do." He tied a rope around himself and Everest, to make sure he stayed on at all costs. "Hyah!" And they both shot up.

The two of them flew out of the narrow canyon together, the Dragon breathing fire into it just as they left. Because he hadn't planned to kill Everest or the now dead Manticore he hadn't brought his full arsenal of weapons, the only two he had on him right now were his recently upgraded sword and combat knife. The Dragon saw them and let out a ferocious roar, causing billowing clouds of dirt and dust to kick up as it lifted up into the air with its massive wings. It chased after them, the two of them screaming past the mountainside as quickly as they could. The moment it tried to let out a breath of fire he dove down with Everest, then went upside down under the belly of the Dragon. They wouldn't be able to maintain a form like that for long so he made sure to try and flip back over as quickly as possible, doing so and coming out towards the tail of the Dragon. They narrowly avoided being whipped by it as they came out.

Aurdel took one hand off of Everest and pulled out his sword as they came back around towards the Dragon, he leaned over. After flipping the switch on his sword he swung down at the back of the Dragon, just barely cutting through its scales before having to pull it out to not lose it. The modification he'd made to his sword was the implementation of a motor, one that would vibrate the blade constantly and powerfully. Yes, he'd made himself a high frequency blade. Of course it wasn't the most powerful he could have made, the materials simply weren't available for him to do that. But even with that it was still capable of being a powerful sword. Unfortunately, Dragons seemed to possess extremely tough scales as armor. They shot back over the front of the Dragon, it stopped for a moment to slow down to regather it's senses since they'd disappeared. But once it had found them again it chased after them once more.

They flew low, barely missing the treetops of a forest just below them. But the Dragon crashed through all of the trees that it missed, clearing them out and leaving a path of destruction behind it. He could see the forest animals that hadn't scattered before running for their lives now, he even saw a Rookie Killer that was preying on some other monster sprinting away as quickly as its legs could carry it. They went back around as the Dragon began to catch up. Maybe he could impede it's movements a little bit… He angled Everest straight up, then let him dive back down. They barely avoided the snapping teeth of the Dragon once more and flew by its wings. "Create Water! Wind Breath!" He sprayed it's right wing with water and froze it as soon as he could. He wasn't able to freeze all of it given how fast they were moving, but he'd gotten most of it.

But it hadn't impeded it at all. In fact it kept going on just as well as before, as if nothing had changed. Not good, it wasn't working either. With the brief amount of time he had to look around while diving back down he looked for any natural formations that he could use to try and stop it, at least temporarily. He straightened out. Nothing. All he could do was keep dodging and trying to wear it down as much as he could. The Dragon dove back down with immense speed, spraying fire at them as it roared over. It burned both him and Everest, Aurdel had to throw off his burning cloak. "Create Water! Heal!" He put out the flames on Everest, then healed him to make sure he could keep flying. They were behind the Dragon for now since it'd gone overhead, so he was going to try and get another blow in on it. And if not only one, a series of blows.

He flew close to the Dragon again, cutting in to it's back the same place he'd done before. This time he was able to cut through the scales and reach some flesh, but once more had to pull his blade out to avoid losing it. But he made sure to try and get one more strike in. He flew towards its right wing and plunged his sword down into it, dragging it along as they flew over it before yanking it out. He made a clear cut in it, but not a hole large enough to stop it from flying. He heard the Dragon roar again, this time in partial pain, and it flapped its wings violently to try and strike them, but they managed to fly away just in time to avoid being hit. Maybe… maybe he had a plan now. Maybe he could try and put big holes in the wings of the Dragon and force it to ground. That would make it much easier to fight than in the air.

He thought of what he could use to try and damage its wings… He had his sword, but that meant he would have to come in close several times to try and damage it. If he had those explosive potions he would simply be able to throw them down at the Dragon to try and put holes in its wing that way. But he- Wait, explosives! He'd forgotten about a skill he'd learned, one he'd learned from a certain Archdevil some time ago that involved exploding dolls. It was a good idea, he just needed to grab enough dirt for it. "Hey Everest! I know you won't like this, but you're going to have to scoop up a large amount of dirt with your beak!" The Griffin squaked. "I already said that I know you wouldn't like it, but trust me! It's the best idea I have right now and I need you to do it." Everest dove downwards. If the Griffin did it at high speeds it would completely destroy its beak, so it'd have to physically stop to it. They soared past a small encampment of Goblins, all of them scattering and panicking. They knew what was coming their way.

Everest dug its beak into the ground and picked up a clump of dirt, making sure not to swallow it by accident. He quickly went off to a running start and tried to fly as soon as possible, as the Dragon came close and hit them with another breath of fire. This time it only just singed them. Once more, he put the flames out and used Heal on Everest. Now this was going to feel weird for the Griffin but he was going to have to bare with him for the moment. He activated the ability, by the confused squak Everest made it'd worked and the dolls were made. "I want you to open your mouth when I say to! Okay?!" He didn't have enough time to allow the Griffin to reply. The Dragon was coming towards them once more.

They flew in the direction of the front of the Dragon, coming straight towards it. "Now!" He screamed moments before they flew over its flapping wings. Everest opened his mouth and the explosive dolls dropped out, detonating on the Dragon's wings. But that threw off the Griffin's movements somewhat too. Shaken by the mini explosions Everest didn't see the Dragon's tail coming. It crashed into them hard. They were sent flying off in one direction towards the ground. Half a dozen trees were in their path, each one was flattened by their chaotic descent. Aurdel only managed to stay on Everest by the sole fact that he'd tied himself to him. He looked up, his left leg trapped under the body of the Griffin and the Dragon was getting closer to them. There was no way for them to move out of the way in time.

So he laid back and closed his eyes, there was no way of stopping what was coming. Everest, sensing his own sense of defeat, relaxed too and awaited the Dragon. "Light of Saber!" Out of nowhere magic was cast and struck the Dragon, it roared as it cut deep into and through the wing he'd been targeting. There was a loud crash as the Dragon fell to the ground. "Aurdel! Are you alright?!" He opened his eyes and there was his party again, running over towards him.

"I'm fine, but I thought I told you to go back to town and get everyone ready for the attack."

"You did, but… we really didn't want to leave you here."

"And don't worry about it gramps, I got this."

"Dust?" For some reason his party had brought Dust with them, what exactly he was going to do was beyond him.

There were loud thuds getting closer and closer, the Dragon was hobbling it's way over to tear them apart by foot. "The one and only." Aurdel took the moment to untie the rope around him and Everest, the two of them separating and standing up injured. He healed the both of them and watched in the direction the Dragon was approaching from. It reared its head over the hill and roared, then…! Then it stopped, it's eyes locked onto Dust. The Dragon came a little closer, moving it's head to Dust then sniffing him. After a moment it lowered its head and went low to the ground in what looked like submission.

"What the hell…?" He muttered silently, not sure what to make of it.

"Don't tell anyone about this, okay? It's another secret of mine."

"Don't worry, I'm not exactly one to run and tell." Aurdel walked over to Dust, "I don't suppose you could ask him to find another place to live? A little further away from town?"

"No, this is home. We can't really kick him out," Dust placed a hand on the Dragon's head, "But I can make sure that he doesn't attack us any time soon."

"In that case, I say we're done here. Let's go home."

* * *

"Erm."

"I don't even want to ask how this happened." Somehow by some occurence of events, Anatalia was presently tied up and tossed on the couch by the fireplace. Aqua was nearby playing on that same game console from earlier. Seated on her lap was an egg wrapped in a soft blanket. "But I'll ask anyway. Aqua, what did you do?"

She looked up from the game, "Well since you were gone I wanted to go out shopping, but this dumb fox here-" Anatalia growled at her, "-didn't want to let me go. So I just tied her up and left."

"Okay, well tying up a Thief that works with ropes as part of her skill set is one thing. But what's with the egg?"

"Oh, this?" She looked down at the egg, "It's my baby."

"Your what now?"

"Not literally you idiot, I just said that because I'm going to take care of it." She gently stroked the top of the egg shell, "While I was at the market there was a man who recognized me as the really great adventurer that I am, and he offered me a really good deal!"

"He offered you a really good deal for a chicken egg…?"

"No! It's a Dragon's egg! Can't you tell the difference?!" But it looked exactly like a normal egg a chicken would lay… "Anyways, he said that normally they're really expensive and that only nobility would be able to have them. But since I'm such a famous and amazing adventurer he said that all the money I had on me was enough to buy it."

...

"You idiot!"


	29. Chapter 29

**..Fly Me to the Moon...**

"You know, I'm happy that I finally finished the Warthog… but now in hindsight, with Everest, I'm not sure if we even need to use it."

"Why's that?"

"Because in terms of getting from place to place faster, flying is a much quicker means of doing so. But then again, who knows how long this guy can fly for." Aurdel gave a good pat to Everest's side, the Griffin currently eating a bucket full of fish.

"He should go far, he looks strong. Like you," Yunyun's face turned a little red saying that.

"Heh, thanks." He turned back around, stroking the Griffin's head, "But you know, something feels off."

"What does?"

"The fact that we haven't run into any Demon King bosses recently, it's odd."

"Well, we did run into those enemies when we went to the capital to rescue you."

"That's true, but he wasn't a full fledged General. From what you said Six told you, it was only a Commander. For some reason they didn't send one of their high ranking leaders, despite them having done so with every other attack on a city."

"You're… you're right. That is strange. Maybe they didn't want to send a General because they knew that you were there?"

"Could be, but that would imply they have spies inside city walls and that's another issue in itself." He stroked Everest's wings, "Anyways, it was just something I had on my mind."

"Is there anything else on your mind? I think it's nice to hear what you have to say."

He thought for a moment, "Well, I did have the thought that you might look really nice if you let your hair down."

"R-really?" Her face turned red as she touched the ribbons in her hair, undoing them. With it her long hair was able to flow freely, draping down and around her shoulder. "W-what do you think?"

"I was right, it does look nice," and he gave a smile. She walked over and leaned on him, placing her head on his chest. They stood quietly, listening to everything around them.

"Maybe… maybe we could go somewhere? Just the two of us-?" Yunyun was in the middle of saying something when she was interrupted by Anatalia, sprinting as quickly as she could back towards the mansion from the town.

"Anatalia? What's wrong?" He asked, she skidded to a halt on the path in front of the mansion.

"I think I found a lead on where my sister might be!" She quickly spit out, "We need to leave, now!"

"Calm down, we won't go anywhere if you don't explain everything to us. We're willing to help you find your sister but we just need to know everything before we go." Her tail was violently wagging behind her and her ears were pointed straight up, but she took a deep breath and exhaled to calm herself down.

"I told you how I got my sister out of the country, right?"

"Yeah, you did. You paid someone to teleport her away. But you don't know where they teleported her away to."

"That's right, and after that I thought he teleported out of the country too. But I found out that there was someone who used them to teleport here not long ago. That means-"

"That means that he might still be in the country, and you want to go there to see if you can find him and get him to tell you where he teleported your sister off to." She nodded. "But didn't you say that all ways of getting to that continent are unavailable? No one wants to teleport there and no ships want to go there either?"

"That's right, but I figured that with Everest here we'd be able to fly there." Fly there? He looked at the Griffin, could he really handle flying such a long distance? He knew that he had an extreme amount of stamina given how long he and the Manticore had been fighting, but it didn't seem likely that he could do trans-continental flights.

"I suppose we can try, it's not like we all have to go at once as to reduce the load on him. Me and Yunyun will go ahead and set a teleport point, then we'll come back here and bring everyone with us on the next teleport."

"Thanks Aurdel," Anatalia looked happy, she bowed her head.

"By the way, is there anything else I should know? I want to know if there's anything important going on before we leave for this place."

"Well the country is called Siberas, and I already told you that there's a civil war going on. It's over Giants called Hyperboreans. But besides that there's really not a lot to tell you." She paused, "Oh wait, there was what I just read in the newspaper today too."

"What was it?"

"For some reason a lot of things tend to fall into our country, from space. There's even this huge metal building thing that fell into our country a long time ago, I even explored it."

"That's neat and all, but where is this going?"

"Apparently something fell into the country again recently, into the north where I'm from." Fall from space… recently… Oh, crap. "Aurdel, what's that look on your face?"

"Oh, it's nothing." But it wasn't nothing. The reason he had a visible reaction was because when they'd made the trip back to Earth, he'd brought a list of requests with him that he planned to give to Clementine.

After that she would hand them off to someone he was close friends with, who would be able to get them done. Part of that request was to attempt to send over a prefab that he'd detailed. That's why he'd been studying the stars and other maps that he knew practically by heart to come up with the perfect slipspace trajectory in order to get it to him. However it seemed that either one of two things had occurred. One, he'd made a mistake in his calculations. That was very much possible given the calculations he'd done in an attempt to get it here, almost nothing like it had been done before. Not to mention he was involving the use of wormholes he'd never personally gone through before which in itself was extremely risky. But given what he was working with it was very possible that the timing was incorrect and as a result arrived at a different point in time than what was intended.

The other possibility was that some external force had acted and thrown it off the correct path, something that was also very likely given his lack of knowledge of occurrences outside of this planet. Hell, for all he knew it could've been intercepted by the Covenant and they hitched a ride here with the prefab. The former idea was disheartening, the latter was worrying. The last thing he needed to do was to bring a twenty seven long war that had taken the lives of billions to a world where many had already died in another war against and unending foe. "Right, I suppose we should get ready. Anatalia, can you tell others about this? I want to make sure they know before we leave."

"Got it boss man," she entered the mansion with a grin on her face.

"Are we really going to go ahead by ourselves?" Yunyun asked, tilting her head up towards his head.

"Sure, it wouldn't hurt to do. Besides, it might be nice to spend some time together." He put a hand around her and pulled her closer. "By the way, can I ask you to teach me teleport? I won't let anything happen to you, but I want to make sure we're safe just in case."

* * *

Aurdel went into town, he probably wouldn't see it for a while so he both wanted to take one look around and check if there might be anything he needs for their trip. Though he knew for sure that one thing he needed was a saddle for Everest. He didn't exactly know if there were any saddles made for Griffins though, they didn't exactly seem like the type of animal to have widespread support for. Worse comes to worst he could give an attempt at making a saddle, it's not like he was entirely incapable of tailoring or doing leatherwork. A few civilians and adventurers that recognized him waved and said hello as he walked through the town. He greeted them back. It was easy to forget that technically, these were his people.

No matter what had actually happened or what Aurdel thought Maxwell had caused him to usurp Alderp's entire house, something hadn't exactly been on his itinerary. There wasn't much he could do about it now. But what he was expecting was some form of anti-corruption or anti-duress investigation, to make sure he hadn't simply threatened Alderp into handing it over. What they would exactly disprove or prove he didn't know but that was an issue for another day. "Is this the second time that I've come in and found you having attacked Wiz?"

"Thou would be correct, moi has punished this impoverished shopkeeper once more for sending us back into debt. No matter moi efforts she manages to find more useless magic items to purchase that she cannot afford. Perhaps thou could purchase some of those items to alleviate moi's debts."

"Right… is there anything particularly useful?"

"Moi would not be sure, from what I've heard you find use in the useless." Somehow he felt like that applied to more than just magic items. "Moi has a magic canceller, it will temporarily remove the magic of those it targets but also from those that use it." That was… relatively useful. Though that certainly was a downside for it to have. "Another item moi has is a pair of cursed gloves. Touching the door of any handle will unlock it, but thou will have the stability of thou's Crusader in terms of battle." Having a skeleton key was useful, but hitting like Darkness wasn't. He was slightly less inclined to buy that one.  
"Does it work on more than doors?"

"No, only on doors." Then it was slightly more limited than he would have hoped, it could only open doors. He didn't need it anyways, he had Anatalia who was a thief and that was enough.

"Is there anything else?"

"Moi has this set of potions," Vanir hefted up a box, "Supposedly half have the chance to give a great buff to one stat but the other half will kill, moi is willing to sell this at half price."

"I don't think that'd be worth the trade even if it was free."

"Then the only thing else moi has to offer is this crude magic barrier device," Vanir pulled something out of a burlap sack. "To activate it and continue projecting it, one must pour mana into it. But the amount is too much for most and would simply cause them to collapse within moments." Eh, he could use it. He didn't exactly have average or below average amounts of mana compared to other people.

"I'll take the magic canceller and the barrier, but please find a better way to show Wiz that the items she buys aren't the best."

"Moi is not entirely sure if there is another way, and is open to suggestions." And with that he left the magic item shop, the debt burdened by the Archdevil slightly less heavy.

The next place that he was going to stop by the was guild since he hadn't particularly visited very often recently. He walked up to the doors and pushed them open, "Where have you been?" Luna said, practically in his face. "You've been gone for so long, you barely even come here anymore! Did I do something?" What was with this attitude…?

He put his hands up, "No, no one did anything. I'm just been really busy as of late, that's all. Too many things all at once. That's actually why I decided to swing by, I'm going to be travelling far again."  
"Eh? Again so soon?! How long?" Why exactly did she care so much if he was gone? He understood that now he was technically the town's lord and that he'd done a lot for it previously, but it wasn't enough to give reason to figure out every detail about him leaving.

"I don't know, a few days? Maybe a week? Depends on how things go, I haven't exactly seen how things are on the other continent and I don't know how long the trip will take."

"Oh you can't go then, it's too dangerous!"

He put a hand on both of her shoulders, "Look, I'm going. I promised Anatalia that I would help look for her sister, so I'm going to help look for her sister."

"I… I see…" She sounded a little disappointed saying that, as if she'd considered convincing him to do otherwise.

"Look, I'll be safe so don't worry about me. Just focus on things here and everything is going to go smoothly." He thought for a moment. "But don't overdo it, you don't have to do everything by yourself. Okay?"  
"Okay," she seemed a little more reasonable now.

"By the way, do you have any maps I can borrow? I don't exactly know the way there."

* * *

"Stay safe you two, we'll be waiting until you come back," Darkness said.

"Yeah, and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Aqua, normally that would warrant a 'What's that supposed to mean?' But all I can say is why would I ever want to do what you do?"

"You shitty old man!" Aqua ran up to try and attack him, but Everest just wiped her away with his wing.

"Please do hurry," Anatalia said, "I don't want to lose the chance to find my sister."

"We'll go as fast as we can, I promise." Megumin wasn't the only one who didn't say anything, though clearly there was something on her mind. The look on her face said that much. But if she wasn't willing to say it then he wouldn't force her.

"Do you know which way you're going?" Darkness asked.

"I do,"he pulled the map out of a bag, then carefully put it back in. "We shouldn't get lost as long as nothing ambushes us. It should be less of an issue when we get over the sea than while we're over land, though I'm not exactly expecting something like a Dragon to ambush us." Yunyun walked up to him and handed him a few sacks full of things, he tied them to the saddle. Because of the distance they were travelling they wanted to travel light, as not to overexert Everest, but there were some necessities they needed to bring with them. Simple things like food, water, changes of clothes and weapons. This time around he was coming better equipped. With him was his sword, a shield, his combat knife, several frag grenades and an SRS99-AM rifle with a case full of rounds. Nothing would get in his way.

He pulled Yunyun up onto Everest. She was wearing a more weather appropriate version of her usual sets of clothes, with thick winter stockings, her usually exposed chest covered up and a fur coat he'd made using leftovers pelts he had laying around. He himself was dressed quite warm as he didn't know how much the climate would change the further they went. "Well there's no time to waste, hyah!" He gave a give to Everest, who gave a squawk and reared. Then they took off. They flew high up into the sky, and Aurdel looked down below. First they passed over the mansion, then over Axel, then over the abandoned castle outside of town and finally over the unending grassy plains that surrounded it. Before he'd thought he wouldn't appreciate the view from high up, given how many times he'd flown in aircraft before, but now it was different, he was able to take it all in. Yunyun was able to take in the sights too, he didn't have to look at her to be able to tell she was thrilled.

Her arms were around his waist, tight but relaxed, and was leaning against his back, it reminded him of the past. From above they were able to see all manner of things. Caravans filled with carriages of goods and people, a group of lizards running along, giant frogs hopping around, flights of birds minding their own business, farmers waving to them from below and many more. It really was a sight to behold. They flew for hours and each moment they found something new. "Aurdel, have you ever done anything like this before?"

"Sure have, a few times in fact." There was one time in particular he remembered. "I was off duty and Clementine hired someone to look after Aric, so we had the freedom to go for a night on the town. We went out to eat, to drink, to dance. All of it. And I think it was the most fun we'd had in our lives. But the thing I remember most was what we did at the end. In hindsight it was completely unsafe, but we managed to sneak into a nearby base and got into the airfield. From there we 'borrowed' one of the Longswords and flew around the continent. Normally something like that wasn't really exciting, but experiencing it with another person made it a whole other experience."

"That sounds really nice, do you think we could do something like that sometime?"

"Sure, we can do whatever you want." Aurdel looked out into the distance, "Hey, look ahead" Yunyun turned her head, the sun was setting behind a mountain. It was breathtaking.

But it also meant they should probably stop for the day, as it was bad to fly at night. Sure it was entirely possible that Everest could handle flying in the dark but he didn't want to take the risk. So he made him slow down, Everest understood the order and began to fly downwards. The place they set down was on the inside of a small bay, walled off by rock faces. He stepped off of Everest's back and helped Yunyun down, the Griffin rested on the still warm sand. He untied one of the bags and opened it up, pulling out two sets of bedding and laying them out. After that he set up a small fire to cook some dinner, making what was essentially hot pot for them and tossing fish to Everest. After that he put out the fire, Yunyun ended up moving her bedding closer to his and the two of them fell asleep.

**...Beyond the Sea...**

"Megumin, why are you pacing around so much? Do you think they are going to get attacked on the way there?"

"No, it's because he only went with Yunyun."

"She is the only one of us that knows teleport, it makes sense."

"Sure it makes sense, but that doesn't make it right."

"I'm not sure I follow…" Darkness was confused by Megumin's words.

"It sounds to me like someone is jealous," Anatalia teased.

"J-jealous?! What reason would I have to be jealous of Yunyun?! I'm clearly the superior Archwizard in every way!" She seemed a little flustered, but collected herself. "Clearly I should have gone with him to wipe out any large monsters he might encounter, no doubt with only Yunyun he'd struggle in such an encounter."

"Really now?" Anatalia stretches herself out on the couch and rested her head on the armrest, having essentially kicked Aqua off of it. "You're not jealous of the fact that she's the one with him and you're not?"

"I-I am not!"

"Yes you are, it's all on your face. I can read it like a book!"

"It is not! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She pulled her hat down over her face.

"What are you guys teasing Megumin about? I want to join in," Aqua said suddenly paying attention.

"Oh it's nothing, go back to that egg of yours before I turn it into tomorrow's breakfast," Aqua shielded the egg she'd bought with her arms.

"If you do anything to my baby you'll receive divine retribution!" Anatalia just chuckled.

"But don't worry, my lips are tight. I won't say a word." She stretched out again, her tail swaying around as Chomusuke batted it around. "But if you really are worried about it then you should do something, nothing gets done if just lay around."

"Plenty of things get done if you just lay around! How do you think I get Aurdel to pay off my debts? By the way I still want to know what you're all talking about."

"But do stuff like what? I don't even know where to begin."

"Do things that he likes. That's easy, right?"

"I don't think he's ever told us what he likes…"

"That's not true," Darkness said, putting down the paper that she was reading. "Aurdel likes… likes... " Her mind was blank, "I can't come up with anything he likes."

"Ah, I suppose that might be a problem. Then maybe we can come up with something, something new."

"Is everyone going to ignore me?! Tell me what's going on!"

"But let's do it after we find my sister, I still think that takes priority over this."

"You're all going to receive divine retribution for- WAAAAAAH!" Aqua suddenly screamed as Anatalia glared at her, causing Chomusuke to pounce on her face

* * *

Aurdel was, for lack of a better word, preoccupied. What he was preoccupied with was helping fight off a small invasion of sea creatures. The sea creatures themselves, however, were not small. The 'battle' was taking place on an island that was in the middle of their route to Siberas, with several boats out on the water and a large amount of people fighting on land. Those that were fighting on land were dealing with rather large crabs, one with giant pincers that could easily fit around a man's leg and cut it off. But in his personal opinion it was better for those people to be fighting those crabs than out on the water. Mostly because…

The Sea Serpent let out a ferocious roar, diving into the water before coming back up through a ship, ""Scatter the ships!" He shouted down towards those down below, the men rushing to do as he said. Those that had fallen into the water from the destroyed ships were devoured instantly by the Serpent, they'd have to be recovered after it was defeated.

"Yunyun, can you try and break the armor around it's head? I want to see if I can get in a hit with my rifle, it should be a lot easier to take down if it can see."

"I'll try, Light of Saber!" Yunyun cast her spell onto the Sea Serpent, cutting through one of its horns. But it didn't cut through its head, only leaving a large mark on its armor-like helmet. Aurdel forced Everest to go up quickly as the Sea Serpent leapt up from the water and towards them, it's jaws missing them. A large spray of water came up as it dove back into the water. The reason that he was dealing with the serpent rather than the crabs was because he thought that people on this island were incapable of doing it. Had they mages or some form of ballistae then either one would be fair game, but he'd seen none of that. Most of the people he'd seen from above seemed to only be using swords, spears and axes, not even a single bow among them all.

Regardless someone would need to do it, and he figured that it would be him and Yunyun. "Alright, try again!"

"Light of Saber!" Yunyun used her spell again as the Sea Serpent came up, this time it left a much bigger impact. A large crack formed in the middle of its head, and it let out a roar. It began to move and spin violently in the water, large waves began to form and move towards the village that sat on the coast. This was bad. He broke off from the Sea Serpent as it went off to destroy another ship, taking Everest over the approaching waves. "Highness Freeze Gust!" Yunyun let out a large blast of magic, freezing the waves on their approach. They stood as solid ice walls facing the village, looming over the docks. The water that hadn't been frozen was much reduced and as a result didn't damage the village, only wiping out some of those that were on shore instead. As they turned the Sea Serpent had begun going after another ship.

It crashed through the bow of the wooden vessel, causing it to lurch forward. Barrels rolled off its deck and into the water with some of its crew. Then he saw three men with spears gather on the sinking ship, they seemed to huddle around and agree on something. Then, they ran towards the side of the ship where the Sea Serpent was approaching from. The three men leapt into the air as it opened its jaw and plunged their spears into the roof of its mouth, wedging it open. Then they jumped away as it sat and squealed in pain, thrashing it's head around. They'd given them an opening. "Yunyun!"

"Fireball! Meteor!" First she flung in a fireball, burning the inside of its mouth with the flames. Then she followed up with a large rock that pounded the burnt area, causing it to scream in further pain. It lowered it's head, putting it into a better position to be struck by her spell. "Light of Saber!"

This last Light of Saber was the one to break the armor on the Sea Serpent's head, splitting in half and falling to either side in the water with a big splash. Now it was his chance to do something. Aurdel let go of Everest and unslung his rifle, taking aim. He carefully scoped in and hovered the reticle over the serpent's eye. Then, he fired. The shot rang out and the round launched out of the gun, plunging itself into its eye. Its screams had turned into roars by this point. Apparently one round wasn't enough to go through, so he fired again. This time there was a splatter of blood and brain matter as the second round went through and fatally wounded the creature. After a quick spasm it went completely limp and stopped moving, getting stuck on a nearby sandbank.

With the Sea Serpent dead they could go down to help the others. Everest dove downwards and landed on a gravel road into between two houses, both Yunyun and Aurdel jumped off with their weapons in hand. "Blade of Wind!" Yunyun cut through one of the crabs, Aurdel himself took his sword to one and bisected it. Everest had also chosen to take part in the fight, grabbing a crab with his beak and tearing it apart. From there it was only a matter of time before all the crabs were killed.

"I don't know who you folks are, but your help is really appreciated," one of the sword bearing men said to them, walking towards them.

"We were passing by, and we couldn't just leave you to fight that thing alone." The man seemed to be another human/animal looking hybrid, similar to Anatalia. This man wasn't a fox though, his appearance was a little more reptilian with scales, a pointed tail and sharp teeth.

"By the way, what exactly are you two? You look a little like us but not exactly."

"We're humans, from the other continent. We were on our way to Siberas."

"Humans, huh? I don't think I've ever seen a human before, you're not that much different from us."

"It's a small world."

"I can agree with that." Unlike others he'd met, this man seemed to have an accent with the way he spoke. The closest thing he could compare it to in terms of speaking english would be a South African accent. He would say it was odd, but really it wasn't. This world, no matter how large or small, had a large variety of people and could all easily speak in many different ways. The way language had developed on Earth alone was enough to prove that.

"But why are you going to Siberas? The war is still going on pretty bad there, don't you know that?"

"Actually, the war is why we're going there." A young girl with cats ears and a tail ran up to Yunyun, tugging on her leg and begging her to show off her magic again.

"You two don't exactly seem like the mercenary type."

"We're not, but a friend of mine has family they lost track of from there."

"Ah, that makes sense. I've heard that a lot of people tried to teleport out before it got really bad, never did hear what happened to them though."

"Well that's what we're looking to find out. Our friend's name is Anatalai, she hasn't told us her sister's name though."

"Anatalia? You don't mean the Queen of Thieves, do you?"  
"She wasn't bluffing about that nickname?"

"You actually met her? She's legendary around these parts for what she's done."

"What exactly has she done?" He folded his arms, attentive. Yunyun was off to the side showing off her magic to the little girl.

"Well she was a professional Thief working for the North at the very start of the war, she did a lot of raids into the South by herself and stole a lot of things for her side. Even though she was the enemy a lot of the people in the South respected her." Anatalia was a war vet? She didn't exactly seem like the type to pick sides. "Not to mention, she always broke the pockets of the places she broke into. After she'd gotten what she needed she let go of the coin in villages she stopped in along the way, so the poorer people liked her too." She never really seemed like the charitable type either. "Of course this was a while ago, she eventually disappeared."

"She told me that she was involved in a raid on a noble's palace, and because of that she had to leave the country."

"Yeah, that's part of the story but not all. The reason she was raiding a noble's palace was because the North decided she wasn't worth it anymore, they kicked her out of the service. So she and two others decided they'd get revenge and raid the King's palace. They broke through every lock and door, cracking every safe and vault on the way in and out. They totally bankrupted the country, though the leaders tried to keep it under wraps. Anyways, one of the three ended up alerting a guard while she's grabbing the crown. So they scatter. No one knows where any of them went, though I supposed you found out where she went."

"I suppose I did." Why hadn't Anatalia chosen to tell any of them this? It's not like he didn't entirely understand where she was coming from, but it was still disingenuous to do it.

"So, what's your names? Mine's Argoras," he stuck out his partially claw hand. Aurdel shook it.

"Well mine is Aurdel Ganowicz, her's is Yunyun," he gestured to Yunyun who now looked over desperately towards him as she had a small horde of kids surrounding her, several hanging off of her arms.

"Your name… should I know it from somewhere?" The man looked at him, as if examining him.

"No, not really."

"Ah, I suppose it's just my imagination. Now why don't you join us for lunch?"

* * *

After lunch, a meal consisting mostly of fried crab and Sea Serpent, they set off again towards Siberas. There was a large amount of fog as they flew for some reason. Normally in a case like this, you'd want to land. But there was no form of land in sight anywhere. So they had to keep moving along. And because of how cold it'd become he'd given Yunyun his own coat to wear on top of hers since he minded it less. "Aurdel, do you think we're almost there?"

"I'm not sure, I can hardly see just in front of us let alone far off into the distance. But I hope that we are." Even with the fog he could tell that it was beginning to get dark, and if the sun went down while the fog was still around it'd be considerably more dangerous to fly. So they would have to keep pushing.

It was calm. The only noise there was was the sound of their breathing, the flapping of Everest's wings and the sounds of the ocean. There was nothing else. No thunder, no battle, no monsters. "Aurdel, what are we going to do if we do find Anatalia's sister?"

"We bring her back I suppose, I don't think there's anyone that we could leave her with."

"But wouldn't that be a problem? I don't want to be negative about it, but if we had her stay with us then that would mean that someone has to stay home with her when we're out on quests."

"Hmm… I suppose that's true. That'll be a bridge for us to cross when we get there. For now let's focus on getting to Siberas so we can bring everyone else to us."

"You're right, we shouldn't worry that far ahead," and she relaxed, pressing her head up against his back.

A few more hours passed, and it was becoming increasingly dark. Worryingly so. Could they really make it to the other continent before it was completely dark? He wasn't confident. He tried not to make that nervousness visible. But after a moment of despair, he heard something. Squawking. It sounded like a seagull. Then the fog began to thin as they kept moving. Eventually they were able to see land and the forming of a coastline, culminating in them finally arriving and flying over the land. They were in Siberas. Or at least, the South of Siberas


	30. Chapter 30

**...And I Would Walk...**

"What took you two so long? You've been gone for a few days!" Aqua cried.

"Travelling isn't exactly instantaneous, especially not when you have to fight a giant sea creature sieging down an island village in the middle of nowhere."  
"Well I hope you know that I don't plan to go on this trip of your's, I have my own baby to watch over," and she gently rubbed the egg sitting in her lap.

"Any way I look at that thing, it's just a chicken's egg. Is it too much to expect a self proclaimed Goddess to be able to tell the difference between the two?"

"I am not a self proclaimed Goddess! And this really is a Dragon egg! Really you couldn't be more insulting to both me and my baby."

"If you're so concerned about your egg then have you at least considered looking for someone to watch over it while we're gone?"

"Of course not! I already told you that I don't plan to leave!"

"You are going to leave or else you're going to find yourself facing down a very angry fox who doesn't appreciate your non-cooperation." He had his arm extended out to stop Anatalia from pouncing on Aqua, who was rightfully angry that this blue haired idiot was valuing a chicken egg over her sister. She was practically foaming at the teeth to get to her. And that, obviously, scared Aqua.

"M-maybe I can come along after all, I'll just find someone to look after the little one."

"Good choice," Anatalia backed down. "Any idea of who you're going to ask?"

"No idea, I don't know anyone I'd trust with my baby."

"Firstly, please stop calling it your baby, It's a chicken. So unless you start laying eggs don't refer to it that way. Second-"

"How rude! I am a Goddess and I can call things whatever I want them to be! I don't have to listen to an old fart like you."

"-you should ask Wiz to look after it."

"Ew! Why would I ask a dirty and disgusting undead to watch over my precious? Especially one that's a Lich with a secret hidden agenda."

"Well I think you should stop pushing your luck before a fox isn't the only thing you pissed off." Aqua, hearing the threat in his voice, backed off.

"Okay okay! Fine! But she better not do anything to him or else I'll purify her."

"Try anything and I'll send you back to heaven prematurely," hearing that Aqua crossed her arms and poured. "Anyways, have any of you started getting ready yet?"

"I have, in fact I'm already prepared to go," Anatalia said with a bag full of things.

"Well you I expect, I was more asking the others." He turned to Aqua, Darkness and Megumin.

"We didn't know how long you'd take to get there, so we haven't packed our things yet."

"Really?"

"Really," Darkness confirmed. He'd at least expected one of those three to get ready, but apparently that was too much for them. He sighed and his eyes drifted around the room. That was when he noticed Megumin was glaring at someone, Yunyun. It was one filled with murderous intent and anger, though she really gave no other appearance of it on the surface. Just what was it with these two? He knew that they were supposed to be 'rivals' but they were a team now, and it wasn't like this was the first time he noticed something odd going on between them. It, honest to God, felt like he'd have to watch their every move just so he didn't lose sight of them and have them enter a brawl to the death. Things would never really become easier for him, would they?

"Then at least get started, I don't want to waste any time just sitting around." He ushers the three of them out of the room, it was on him, Yunyun and Anatalia now.

"Aurdel, what did things look like over there?"

"We really didn't stay long enough to get a good look," he sat down on the couch with a cup of tea, "We landed just on the coast near a small town in the south, though we didn't exactly go inside. Yunyun set her teleport point and we left."

"That's fine, it'll be better to move around at night anyways. The day is-"

"The day is where they'll still be looking for you."

"Right…" she grimaced.

"Why didn't you tell us really anything about your past? We only heard about what you did from an island off the continent, and even then it's not a full story."

"I was going to tell you what I did in due time. And besides, it's not like you can believe all of what you heard. A lot of it was probably exaggerated."

She sat down on one of the recliners, her ears and tail drooped. "But I am sorry, I really was meaning to tell you eventually. It's just that things get so busy that I get sidetracked and don't have the time to tell you."

He sighed, "It's fine, just try to be a little more open in the future," and she nodded. "So I suppose this is where I should start asking questions, since we have the time. "Anatalia shifted into a better position on the chair, Yunyun sat next to Aurdel with her own drink.''What's your sister like? If we get the chance to find her it'll be better to know now."

"Well, she looks quite similar to me. The last time I saw her she was about half my size… and a bit shorter than me." Hmm? When she said size she wasn't referring to height? "Her ears are a little bit more pointy than mine though, she has sharper teeth too. And in terms of how she acts, she's… she's just a scared little girl. She didn't want to leave when I sent her away."

"It makes sense, it's hard to leave behind everything you've known. I can understand the feeling," there was a long silence. "But what happened to your parents? I know that they're no longer around, but I'd like to know about them."

"If I'm going to be honest, you remind me of them a little," she gave a weak smile, "they were good people, perfect parents who'd do anything for us. But they were just as kind to everyone else too. So even though they bought a few slaves they never mistreated them, never admonished them and gave them praise. But I guess that wasn't enough." She lowered her head, "I was coming back from shopping in the city when I saw that our home had been completely destroyed, I sprinted over as quickly as I could. When I got there I saw them standing over my parents bodies, near them was my sister. They'd died protecting her. Before they could put a single damn finger on her I tore out all their throats, then I broke down. Even with how kind my parents had been nobody wanted to help us, they said that they'd reaped what they'd sowed. We were on our own, I had to do a lot of things I'm not proud of to make sure that she could grow up safely… but… Then that damn war happened!" She slammed her fists, there were tears in her eyes.

"We were too close to where the country had split, meaning that the battles would get to us sooner rather than later. We only barely got out when the first one happened. I used all the money I had saved up to get her out of there, I didn't have enough to go with her." The two of them got up as she hung her head, comforting it. "And I have no idea if she's even alive, all I can do is hope that she is."

He put a hand on her shoulder, "Sometimes that's all we need to do, keep hoping. Don't worry Anatalia, we'll find her. I promise."

She looked up with a smile, "Thank you, boss."

* * *

Once they all had their ready to go Yunyun teleported them back over to the other continent, it was still dark out. She stumbled after all of them managed to get their footing, nearly toppling over. Aurdel managed to catch her, "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright. It's just that teleporting large distances like that more than once uses a lot of mana," her legs were trembling. It didn't look like she'd be able to walk very well without support.

"I'll carry you as far as I can until you regain enough strength to walk steadily," he picked her up, carrying her in his arms. He couldn't carry her on his back given all of the gear he had with him so this would have to suffice. Megumin was glaring at her again, though there was a little less hostile intent this time. "Alright, let's go."

Out in front of the small hill they stood on was a small rural town, probably considered a fishing village given its placement on the coast. That said it meant they shouldn't have too much trouble with guards or soldiers, or really anything like that. But since they have Everest with them it meant that their priority should be finding a carriage to hook up for easier travel. "Lurk!" Him using Lurk on all of them was the best they could do for now, as Yunyun wouldn't be able to put up her cloak spell for a while. They walked down the hill. Sticking to the outskirts was their best option to avoid being seen. Though, that was only viable until they left town. "Anatalia, do you know anyone in this town?"

She looked at him, "I haven't exactly been all over the south, this town is way too far out of the way to have been the target for one of my missions. The further inland we go the more likely I'll have been there." At least there was the chance of getting help later on, it was better than nothing.

No lights were on in the town, everyone was still asleep. By his guess it was about two hours past midnight so they'd still be asleep for a while, but there was no telling to be sure. There were farms he'd seen off in the distance and farmers had to get up early for their work. But that was probably where they'd be able to find a carriage for themselves. The grass began to get taller as they approached the town allowing them to hide more effectively. But there was something odd… "Anatalia, are there a lot of monsters in these parts?"

"Monsters? Not really. You might have the occasional attack but those are easy to throw back. They almost always stick to neatly uninhabited areas."

"Really? That's odd."

"To you it might be, but it was odd for me to see so many monsters so often on the continent you're all from."

"But why do they stay away so much here?"

"I think it's because they're afraid of us, and I don't mean just my subspecies. They're scared of all of us Demi-humans."

"But aren't you just like me or the others?"

"Mostly, but we're almost all inherently strong with some much stronger than others. It's why we don't have Adventurer Guilds here, practically anyone here can fight off a monster. Though from what I've learned that is also the reason why none of us are able to master magic."

"Nature gives, nature takes." That seems to be the natural order of things anyways, there was no point in disrupting it. They kept moving.

"It's a shame, I really wanted to meet some strong monsters…" Darkness, per usual, had her mind elsewhere.

"It's better for there to be less around given the fact we're sneaking around, if we got into a battle with something it'd be sure to attract some attention. Especially if we used any magic."

"Why do I feel like I'm being targeted by that statement…?" Megumin asked.

"You're not being targeted, but Explosion isn't exactly a quiet spell either. I'm pretty sure by this point it can be heard for miles around."

"I'll take that as a compliment." It could be taken as a compliment, sure, it's just that it wasn't what he'd intended to do. But whatever.

"Either way, if we do need to take anyone out it'll be me or Anatalia doing the work."

"Why not me?" Darkness asked, "I can fight in close quarters too."

"Missing every target you aim for is NOT fighting in close quarters, if you did somehow hit anything it would have to move directly into your swing."

"So unforgiving~" Hopeless as ever too.

They began to pass by the town now, they were on their way towards the outer limits now. "Hey Aurdel, my feet hurt. Can't we walk on the road?" Aqua whined.

"Going on the road, even if it's the middle of the night, is a horrible idea and will lead to us getting spotted. That is if you somehow don't manage to do that to us first."

"Why do you think I would do that?! You're being mean!"

"Because you're doing that," he slapped the back of her head. "You make too much noise, you'll get us found and then we'll be in trouble. So shut it." Aqua nursed the back of her head.

"He's not wrong, you know," Anatalia said, "More often than not you have the occasional wandering person out here in the more wild parts." She scanned the area around them, "Be careful." They walked slowly and quietly.

The breeze was cold and the grass swayed. By now, no doubt, winter was beginning to pass, though they were by no means out of the woods yet. With spring there was bound to be more threats that came to them. That was why he needed that prefab. Everything that he needed to prepare himself and the others would be in there, then nothing could stop them. And once they were ready he would take the fight to the Demon King and end it. Aurdel kept an eye on his motion tracker and Enemy Detection. By this point he was less carrying Yunyun and she more clung to him, which he wasn't particularly against. It made it all the easier for him to draw his sword if he needed to.

He held out his hand and stopped, the others did too. "What is it?" Anatalia asked.

"I'm not picking anything up with my motion tracker or with Enemy Detection, but I can tell there's something there," he whispered. Anatalia drew one of her daggers, and sniffed the air.

"You're right, there is." He motioned his hand down towards the others and the got close to the ground. The feeling had been in his gut, but there really was something there. He had no idea how it'd gotten past either of his methods of detection though.

He laid Yunyun down, "Stay here, I'm going to scout ahead." Crouched down he moved ahead, slowly pushing through the grass so as not to make too much noise. It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for though.

Aurdel leapt from the grass and tackled the man to the ground, knocking the bow and arrow out of his hands. They tussled. He scratched Aurdel's face with a set of sharp claws, his cheek started to bleed. But Aurdel was on top of him fast, throwing a blow straight into the man's gut and making him drop the dagger he'd been reaching for. Aurdel took the dagger away from him and put his arm against the man's throat. "Kill me then you damn traitor, you'll never take us all. The North will win eventually."

"Traitor? I'm not even from here, I"m not even a Demi-human."

"Then who the hell are you?" Aurdel grabbed the man by the arm and dragged him over to the others, throwing him down.

Anatalia looked down at the man he'd brought over, "Who's this?" The man looked up at her, his eyes widened.

"Not sure, from what he said he sounds like he's-"

"The Queen of Thieves! It's an honor to be able to meet you," the man bowed his head and knelt in front of Anatalia. "Me and my friends have been doing everything we can to fight these traitors, no matter what it takes we will win."

Anatalia put away her dagger, "I'm sorry to say this, but I don't fight with the North anymore. I haven't fought on their side for a while now, in fact."

"We don't really care about the North, it's just easier to pass off as one of them. What we really care about was what you believe in, your ideals"

"My ideals?"  
"Yes, your ideals." The man stood up, "We all heard stories about what you did for our people and we took it all to heart, it's what we started fighting for. We still call them all traitors because they refuse to follow what you believe in. But we will win, I can promise you that!"

Aurdel leaned over to Anatalia's ear, "It seems you underestimated the effect of your efforts here."

"Yes, that would appear to be the case…" Anatalia looked at the man, "Then maybe you can help us, we're on a mission."

**...Under Cover of Darkness...**

"We thank you for the help."

"We'd do anything to help our Queen of Thieves," the man and his group saluted Anatalia. As it turns out her actions while working for the North had unintentionally inspired quite a large partisan movement both in the South and the North, though it was by no means the largest Aurdel had ever seen. Regardless it was a good sign for the rest of the trip as they might receive more help along the way. Everest was hitched up to the wagon they'd been given and everyone was inside it, aside from himself.

"I suppose we should be off then, let's get a move on boy," and Everest set off. The beginning of their trip was quiet.

"Hey, Aurdel, is Everest really a male Griffin?" Megumin asked.

"It's what I assumed, I don't exactly know how you'd identify a male Griffin from a female. Nor do I plan to stop and frisk him right now to find out what's between his legs."

"I think Everest is a female too," Darkness said.

"Does it even matter right now? We have more important things to worry about."

"It's not like we're anywhere near the north," Aqua said, "Maybe we should come up with something to talk about while we're travelling!"

"I'd prefer to just have some peace and-"

"That's a great idea!" Darkness said, Aurdel sighed. "But what can we talk about?"

"Maybe we can tell stories?" Megumin suggested, "Does anyone have any stories they can tell?"

"I can tell the story of my first monster-!"

"Absolutely not," Aurdel cut Darkness off before she could begin.

"Do you have any stories you can tell Aurdel?" Yunyun asked, "I love hearing from you."

"Of course I do, plenty. But given where we are if you want to hear stories, you should be asking someone else." The others looked towards Anatalia.

"I suppose I could tell you all a story, it only makes sense." She cleared her throat and began…

* * *

"Orzel, Kot, are you two ready?" She asked her two companions."

"I'm all set boss," Kot said. Kot was another Thief that Anatalia had been working with for some time now, she'd been introduced to her when she first started her infiltration missions to the South. Of course during that time they'd formed a near inseparable bond. So when she'd heard about her being discharged unjustly she came to her aid and planned to help her take revenge.

"I'm ready too boss," Orzel on the other hand was more recently introduced to her, though he was useful too. When she asked her for his help in taking revenge she knew that he would accept right away, which was exactly what he did. It was evident to her that he had feelings for her which made it all the easier for him to go along with whatever she told him to do.

"Alright, you two remember the plan. We're taking everything we can from this dump and make a break for it. Safes, cabinets, vaults. We're opening all of it." The rain was coming down hard during the night, thunder cracked. There were very few lights on in the capital so the only light there was came from the lightning, though they could see in the dark with the nightvision their eyesight provided to them. They were situated under a dark camouflage tarp next to a tree, in a position that put them right next to a window looked into one of the palace's hallways. "And don't kill any guards. No matter how much trouble they give you, they're just trying to do their job and have their own families to support."

"We understand boss," the two of them said in unison. Good, if they understood then that meant they could get going with their mission.

Anatalia reached into her bag. She'd bought several magic items for this mission, imported from the other continent a long time ago. They were expensive to purchase but they would be worth it. She pulled out a rectangular object. There was no real name for it, so she'd just call it a cutter. She pressed the cutter up to the glass, positioning it directly in front of where the latch to the window would be. It stuck to the glass with a click, then she pressed a button on the back of the cutter and it began to glow. The spot the cutter was touching began to glow too as it heated up, a slight sizzle and crackling noise sounded in the air. Normally she'd be against any tool that made noise like this but it was quiet enough that it wouldn't be noticed. After about a minute passed the device was done working.

She took her dagger and gently pushed it into and through the glass, cutting a hole in the warmed up glass. Carefully she pulled out the cutter with the circle of glass that'd been on the inside, it popped off. With her other hand she reached through the hole on the inside and flipped the latch, unlocking the window. She pried it open and the three of them made their way inside. Anatalia then gently placed the circle of glass back into the window, using the tool to reseal it and then popping the cutter off of the window. There was a slight amount of signs of damage done to the glass, but anyone just passing by wouldn't see it. "You all remember where you're supposed to go, so split up." And the three of them split up. For days prior to this mission they'd studied the layout of the building and knew where guards would be positioned, along with where all the hallways and entrances were.

They just needed to avoid those guards and make their way to their targets. Anatalia crept along the wall of the hallway and kept low to the ground, staying away from the windows so as to not let any light from the lightning give away her position. Before this she'd padded her gloves and boots to not make any sounds. It made them a little harder to move in and use, but it was a worthwhile sacrifice to be successful here. She rounded the corner and met her first guard. He was standing quite some distance away from her and was holding position in front of one of the hallways she needed to pass through. This was one of the possible snag points in the layout of the palace, which was why she'd chosen this route instead of allowing one of the others to do it. It's not that she didn't think they were capable, it was just that she really only trusted herself to do it.

She looked up, there were several pillars and columns leading up to buttresses and beams near the ceiling. She'd be able to use those. She waited for lightning to strike. "Bind!" As soon as it cracked she unleashed her skill and tied her ropes around one of the beams. Carefully she angled it and climbed up, making sure not to enter the guard's field of view. Once she'd reached the top she untied her ropes and put them back into her bag. The bag itself was the second magic item she'd bought. Supposedly it was some "artifact" from a "cheat user" on the other continent, one that was able to hold an infinite amount of things inside it and would take out anything the person who held it desired from inside of it. It was where she planned to store all of her loot from this mission.

She leapt from buttress to buttress and beam to beam, making to avoid doing it whenever lightning struck as to avoid leaving a shadow on the ground below. For most other people such a feat would be extremely difficult, but for a nimble fox like her it was child's play. Now she was positioned almost directly over the guard standing in front of the entrance to the other hallway. If it weren't for the fact that she knew that there would be someone coming to check on him, she would be taking less precaution and would just knock him out. But she couldn't. So this would be the more crucially timed portion of her movements. She waited for lightning to strike, and when it did she began counting. The reason she was counting was because she needed to know how much time she would have between each strike, it was key to her avoiding being seen.

It struck again, thirty seconds. That was how much time she had. She got herself ready by hanging off the beam with her tail upside down, using it to support her as she waited until about twenty five seconds. Once it passed twenty five she swung down. Quickly she swung through the top of the doorway with her tail releasing the beam, using the top to ensure that she went in. She was in the air for a few seconds, then lightning cracked. At the same time she landed on her foot on the floor. She quickly turned her head back to look at the guard, waiting to see if he'd heard her. He hadn't. Good, she could keep moving. Again she moved slowly alongside the walls of the hallway and stayed away from the windows.

There was much more furniture in this hallway, she was coming much closer towards the bedrooms and more important sections of the palace. Eventually she had to come to a stop though, as a large door stood before her. Before she tackled it however she had to get something out of the way. "Watcher!" She used her skill to place down an object that would be able to notify her if anything came through the doorway after her. With that settled, she confronted the door. First she peered through it, waiting for lightning to strike to illuminate the other side. When it did she saw there were no guards. To doubly make sure it was clear she put her ear up to the door and listened, she couldn't hear anything on the other side either. Good, she could get through easily then. She pulled out a small pin.

"Lockpick!" She poked the pin into the keyhole and began to prod around. Lockpick wasn't an automatic skill like others, it only provided the user with a better view into the lock to be able to force it open. Lightning struck as she pushed the third pin inside the lock, she would have to wait to open the door once she'd finished. After the fifth pin was pushed through and the door unlocked she waited a few seconds. Lightning struck, she opened the door and squeezed through. She waited again for lightning to strike before she closed it. Leaving it open would be a risk to her and the others, as if a guard found it open they would know that someone was actively infiltrating the palace and begin a search for them. She moved quietly.

This hallway seemed to have much less windows, though those that were there were much more grandiose in size. But this hallway was where she needed to stop as it had her first ransacking target. She stopped, waited until after lightning had flashed and then quickly ran to the door. "Lockpick!" She pushed the pin and quickly went to work on the lock on the door, she didn't have much time before the next lightning strike. She managed to open four on the pins in the lock when she heard a man yawn, then lightning struck. She had no idea how close that guard was to her but she wasn't taking chances. "Bind!" She shot her ropes up towards on the beams on the ceiling and pulled herself up as quickly as she could with all of her upper body strength. She hid on top of it. The sound of metallic footsteps set in inside the hallway she was in, the man walking beneath her.

"Yeah, still nothing here." the man let out an exasperated sigh. "Jeez, I don't get why the King has us patrolling when there isn't even anybody crazy enough to try breaking into this place."

Nobody that crazy, huh? She thought to herself as the man walked back towards the way he'd come from. Anatalia untied the rope and gently landed back down on the ground before quickly finishing unlocking the door. She quietly opened it and crept in. The room that she was in now was one of the small scattered treasuries throughout the palace. The King was somewhat smarter than others, he didn't keep all of his gold and treasure in one place. That was only a little bit smarter than others though. A smart king wouldn't have discharged her. There was a guard in the room sitting on a chair, leaned against a wall. Given the fact he hadn't shot up when she'd entered he was reasonably asleep. She moved silently along the floor, snaking her way towards the vault door.

That when she noticed the man slowly starting to wake up. That wasn't good, she needed him to be out for longer. She looked around quickly, there was a glass filled with some liquid on a nearby table. Quickly she pulled out a vial of a sleeping mixture and put a few drops into the glass, then hid behind a desk. She waited as she heard the guard yawn, pick up the glass, then take a gulp. Then she heard the glass being set down, before the man was completely out cold. She poked her head out to be sure of it, waiting a few seconds, then stepped out. She walked over towards the metal door in the room. This was a multi-lock door, one with more advanced locks to boot. It would take a somewhat longer time to open.

"Lockpick!" She began to go to work on the door. Anatalia wasn't exactly sure of what she'd do after this all happened. She knew for sure that she'd have to leave the country, possibly even the continent, but besides that there was no solid plan that she had in mind. The first lock opened. She'd have to find her sister though, that much she knew for sure. With the money that she'd get from this they'd be able to find a place to stay together, then from there she'd be able to grow up and live a normal life. She spun the seal on the door open and went inside, the vault was full of gold and gems. Immediately she ran over and began stuffing the bag she had with her with everything she could. Eris coins, gold bars, rubies, diamonds, all of it. There was even a large and shiny sword that she took, managing to stuff it inside the bag despite it appearing much too small from the outside.

Once she'd ransacked the entire vault she closed it back up and left the room, silently moving through the hallways of the palace once more. She'd ransacked three other vaults by the time she finally reached her most important target. The door was unguarded, the rug leading up to it embroidered with gold. This room was the bedroom of the King and housed the most valuable item in all of the kingdom. "Lockpick!" She forced open the door and stepped inside. The room was massive with all kinds of amenities everywhere. But his first focus was on the large bed situated by one of the walls of the room. She crept over. Peeking over she saw the King and Queen quietly asleep, snoring away. They were totally unaware of the fate that was about to befall them. She unsheathed her dagger and crept in closer.

First she went to the Queen's side. She was a beautiful young woman, bountiful with deep blonde hair like gold. She was adored by the populace. Unfortunately, because of who she was, she couldn't be allowed to remain alive. It was nothing personal. After all she kills her enemies, but she does not hate them. She put a hand over the woman's mouth and plunged her dagger into her neck. Her eyes shot open with fear and panic, she struggled to try and get out of bed to escape her fate. But it simply wasn't possible. Within moments she lay dead where she slept. When she took her hand off her mouth there was blood on it. She crept to the King's side now.

The King on the other hand was a pompous man. Sure he was dashing, with looks that were sure to make most fall, but as a man he was awful. It was astonishing to think such a kind woman could marry such a horrible man. But perhaps it hadn't been of her own will and this would simply be justice. She climbed up and sat on the King's waist, putting her dagger on the side for a moment. She put her non-blood covered hand over the King's mouth and shook him awake. His eyes drifted open, then froze with fear when he fully saw her. "Good evening, _Your Highness_. It's so nice to see you again. I just thought that I'd pay you and your wife a visit." The King's eyes looked over to his now dead wife.

"Of course I also wanted to show my gratitude, with all the _thanks_ you gave me for my service." She drew an X on the King's forehead with the blood on her hand. At that moment her Watcher skill went off, something had passed through the door. Then another and another and another. Damnit, it looks like they knew something was up. Time to split. She picked up her dagger, "So long, Your Highness." And she plunged the dagger through the X on his head, the first time it didn't make it all the way through and the King spasmed with pain. She shrugged, one more should do it. She plunged the dagger down again, this time it went through. The King moved one last time, then he stopped moving. He was dead. She licked the King's blood off her dagger, it was only fitting.

The doors to the bedroom flung open, "Your Highness-!" She pulled out a small spherical object from her bag. It was the third item she'd bought, a smoke bomb. She pressed the button on it and tossed it towards the guards running in. It exploded and smoke expanded out. She ran from the bed and crashed through the window.

* * *

"...After that I escaped the palace grounds. I never saw those two who were with me again, I have no idea what happened to them. I had to ditch the bag somewhere to avoid being caught as I was eventually found, then I made my way to someone I knew who could Teleport me away. After that I ended up on your continent, in Alcanretia."

"That… that was a lot all at once," Darkness said

"Yeah, and some of that sounded a little bit sadistic," Megumin said.

"I think I prefer Aurdel's stories better…" Yunyun whispered.

"You asked, you recieved." She folded her arms, "I don't regret what I did, the King had it coming."

"What about you Aqua, what do you-?" Darkness looked to Aqua, she was passed out and probably hadn't heard even half of it.

"Well, why don't I tell a story to lift the mood?" Aurdel suggested, "I can even have one of you ride up her with me if-" Megumin and Yunyun both immediately scrambled to get up front. Even with the light he was trying to bring now he couldn't feel anything but a bit of unease from what Anatalia had told him. He trusted her, sure, but something still didn't feel right. It was like there was something else she was hiding… He'd press her on it soon enough.


	31. Chapter 31

**...Something Secret Steers Us…**

Aurdel was still riding upon Everest's back. Hours had passed and they'd rode some distance across the countryside, the early morning sun shining down on them. It was a little chilly though, so he made sure to cover the others with blankets since they were still fast asleep in the carriage. He wouldn't wake them since there was no real reason to, they'd need to be well rested anyways if they came across some monster or enemies. Preparing was always something important to do no matter the situation. One couldn't prepare for everything however. "Aurdel, I need to talk to you." He turned his head, it was Megumin who'd woken up and said it.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" He focused back on the road ahead of them

"Well I wanted to ask, what exactly is going on between you and Yunyun?"

"What's going on?" He thought about it. Then he shrugged, "I don't know, she just wanted to be closer. Personally I don't mind as long as-"

"I don't want you getting any closer to her," he turned his head.

With an eyebrow raised, "Where exactly is this coming from and what is it about?"

"It's because… I want to get closer with you." He wasn't sure what to say, so he'd let her keep speaking. "At first I wasn't so sure of it, but then when I saw Yunyun trying I knew that I had to do something." He saw someone move behind her, "I couldn't let her take you-"

"Why do you hate me so much…?" Yunyun's said voice said, "What did I ever do to you that you don't want me to be happy? Anything I have you try to take from me… Why…?" There were tears in her eyes, "I didn't have any friends… I didn't have anyone… So why?!"

"Because I didn't have anyone either!" Megumin shouted, an uneasy silence followed. "I didn't have anyone.." She lowered her head, "Dad always spent all our money on his stupid magic items, Mom wasn't there enough, I had to take care of Komekko and I didn't have any friends either!"

That was when he realized something, something he'd never really given too much thought to. Maybe it was because of everything that had happened to him that he'd never considered it too pressing, but he saw it now. He stepped off of Everest and walked onto the wagon via the hitch. These two were hurt, emotionally and mentally, by things in the past. But if he really thought about it, most of them here were that way. He'd been kidnapped and lost multiple families, Megumin was neglected, Yunyun was ostracized and Anatalia lost almost everything. He couldn't speak for Darkness or Aqua, but he could at least see what had happened to them. That was when he felt a pain in his chest. It'd been something he'd been suppressing for a long time just because of his training, but he just couldn't anymore.

Aurdel was, for better or for worse, an HSP. As a kid he was always able to feel others pain and as a result he never made many friends, he didn't want to deal with the emotional overload. But when he'd been kidnapped for the Spartan II program it was unavoidable and he almost completely stopped functioning in those early days. He felt the pain that all the other kids did, them wanting to go back to their homes and families and for the nightmare to be over. It never truly stopped. Because of it he was, for lack of a better way of saying it, forcibly 'broken in.' In the time he'd spent after that he never really realized how much it actually hurt him until now. "You two need to stop fighting, please," the two of them looked at him. "It hurts me to watch you two fight, you're doing nothing but hurting each other. So please, stop. If you can't do it for each other then do it for me."

There was a moment of silence, the two of them looked at each other. Then they walked towards each other. Under a mutterance of pained sorries and expressions, the two hugged each other. They made up, they could be happy. And that was enough for him. He walked over and enveloped both of them in a big, tight hug. "We're all in this together, until the end. So we need to support each other whenever and however, no matter the situation. Okay?" And the two of them nodded their heads "Thank you." He squeezed them tight, then let them go. "We still have a ways away to go from here to the North and we're only about half way through the South. Besides that I'm not entirely sure what to expect as we keep going."

"Should we help keep watch?" The two of them asked.

"No, I can keep watch as we ride. You two should get some more sleep like the others. It's always good to stay well rested." They were a little hesitant to do so, but eventually he got them to lay down and he tucked them in. They fell asleep once again. He walked back over the hitch and sat down on Everest's back, watching the rolling countryside around them. He'd much rather be asleep since he'd been awake all night, after all a soldier's best weapon was healthy sleep habits, but he wasn't entirely sure that he could just leave Everest to lead them onwards. It was that moment of occupied thought that led him to be off his guard. That was when it happened. An arrow struck and landed in his left shoulder, his head quickly shot to the side to see where it'd come from. The forest. "Wind Breath!" He used his spell to stop the rain of arrows coming down from tearing through the cloth covered sides of the carriage. A few more struck him as he made sure Everest wasn't hit. By the time the first wave of arrows had finished the others were awake.

"Where's it coming from?!"

"The forest!"

"Explosion!" Megumin shot off her spell towards the forest, completely obliterating a portion of it. She collapsed onto the floor of the carriage.

"Who would be ambushing us in a place like this?" Darkness asked, "These are the tactics of bandits."

"You're at least partially right." Anatalia, "Elves, they're Elves."

"Elves? Are they really on this continent too?"

"They are, but for they're savages," she seemed to look down on them, "They're isolated in the western portion of the country where they're kept at bay, the Kingdom needing to deploy extra guards with any travellers passing through."

"We aren't that far west though. If anything, we're still in the eastern half," he pointed out.

"I know, I noticed that too," she scratched her chin and her tail wagged. "Something must be driving them out of the west if they're going this far east."

"Any idea what it might be?"

"No idea, I haven't heard of any threats serious enough to justify them leaving."

"Well hopefully whatever it is," he grunted as he pulled the arrows out of his side, "we won't have to encounter it." Everest turned his head to lick Aurdel's now open wounds.

"That I think I can agree on, I'd rather find my sister as quickly as possible."

"But that being said, I feel like we should stop at the next town for breakfast."

"At the next town? Are you really sure that's a good idea with the bounty Anatalia has on her head?" Darkness questioned. It was a valid point to bring up.

"That may be so, but if she was praised enough by the people around here to start various partisan movements in favor of her then I doubt we'll find any trouble with the locals. As long as we all behave ourselves."

"Why are you looking at me when you say that?!"

"You know exactly why I do that Aqua, you should be able to pick up on hints by now." She folded her arms and pouted in the carriage, "So, any other objections?" He looked around, "Alright then, let's go."

* * *

About another half hour of travelling passed by before they were able to arrive at the next town. He stopped the carriage next to a building, looking around. "Well then, welcome to Arnestuck I suppose," Anatalia threw up her hands in a general presentation of the town in front of them.

"It looks like someone dropped an American old western into the middle of a bunch of green grass covered rolling plains."

"A what in to a what now?" Aqua attempted to parrot, but missed practically half of what he'd said due to her not paying attention.

"Ah forget it, I doubt any of you would even recognize what I'm referring to. Let's get something to eat," He looked at Everest and patted him on the head, "Stay here boy, I'll bring you something to eat soon enough." The Griffin cooed in response.

Now with that settled, they just had to find somewhere to eat. Anatalia has previously mentioned that there were no adventurers guilds here, so by no means would they be able to go to one to get breakfast. There probably were diners or restaurants, but those were bound to be crowded at this time of day. So in an old western town, where would you go to get something to drink and eat? The saloon. He led the six of them towards the doors of the building, waiting out front for a moment. "Remember, behave." Aqua began to throw a tantrum after hearing that again, but he quickly got her to settle down. After that he pushed open the doors and the six of them walked inside.

The whole place was bustling about with activity, more than he'd expected really. Even this early in the morning people were already drinking and having a good ol' time. It shocked him really, most people waited until at least the afternoon before they started drinking. But because they were all so enthralled and occupied with their own businesses they paid neither him nor his party any mind, not even a glance really. They just went on with their business. It didn't really bother him too much. It was better for them to be ignored than gather too much attention with the people around here. So they walked through and over to the counter. "Well now, don't we have a lucky fella right here? What'll it be?" the saloon keeper asked.

"Do you have any kind of breakfast specials?"

"Sure do, six of them?"

He nodded, "And a bucket of fish if you can spare it."

"As long as you're paying for it, I don't mind." The keeper walked away off to the back, presumably into the kitchen.

"Aurdel, are we going to have to pay for our meals on our own?" Aqua asked.

"No I'll pay for them," but before she could get another word in, he clarified. "Now that doesn't mean I'm going to go broke paying for your drinking habits. If you want to get drunk, do it with your own money."

"Bug I don't have any money!"

"That should tell you enough right there." He sat down on a chair, the others crowding around him. "So what exactly is the food like here?"

Anatalia shrugged, "Food is food wherever you go, it's good. So don't worry too much, I'm sure you'll enjoy it." About fifteen minutes passed and after some light drinking and chatting breakfast came out.

"This is breakfast? It looks like it's either all three meals or going to kill you just by eating it." The thing Aurdel was referring to was the dish that was served to them. It looked like a larger burger, filled with cheese, bacon, other types of meat and at least three eggs.

"Is something wrong?" Anatalia took a large bite out of hers, the others eating their own as well.

"No, it's nothing."

**...Who Can It Be Now?...**

"See? It wasn't so bad, right?" Anatalia said, giving him a bump on the shoulder. He had eaten the burger thing put in front of him, he'd also brought the fish he'd purchased to Everest to eat.

"I suppose it wasn't. But still, I don't understand how-" He stopped. "Anatalia, what's wrong?" Her tail had gone completely stiff, her ears were twitching sporadically. It looked like she was frozen in place… No, frozen with fear.

"Someone is here… Someone… strong," she whispered, her voice uneasy. She was visibly trembling now too. Loud cracks of explosions and other noises could be heard coming from outside of the saloon. All of the patrons stared at each other with worry, pulling out weapons they'd somehow been hiding on their persons. The saloon keeper retreated into the back.

That was when he heard it. The entire backroom of the saloon was splintered to pieces with the saloon keeper inside it. While he hadn't seen exactly what had happened, he was shredded to pieces for sure. One of the waitresses ran over to the door he'd entered, still barely hanging on by its hinges, and slammed it shut, locking it for all of the good that it would do them. "I have a really bad feeling about this…" Then he was able to tell something was about to happen. "Get down!" He kicked over the table and dragged all five members of his party behind it, tossing a cloak he had with them over him. He was still standing when it happened. The entire front of the saloon was obliterated now, shards of sharp glass and pointed wooden pieces flew all over. There were pained screams and shouts as the other patrons were torn to bits. He himself was seriously injured with cuts all over his body and tears in his clothes, only barely managing to avoid losing his eyes to the blast by having his head turned.

"Aurdel!" Yunyun shouted, she reached out from under the cloak to look at him.

"I'm fine. Megumin, get over here. I need you to have an Explosion ready once whatever it is out there decides to come out." He reached out his hand and began transferring mana to her, smoke, dust and dirt filled the air around them. It was practically impossible to see.

"I've found you," a deep voice said. The smoke began to clear and Aurdel was able to make out the figure of a large man, extremely large. He looked to be taller than even him and wider too. He stood in the opening he'd made, "I've been looking for you, Hero." The smoke and debris cleared, he was able to more clearly see the figure now. A large helmet combined with a mask covered the man's face, though he wore what seemed to be a suit that had armor plates sewn into it. Even with how absurd it was it was still an intimidating figure.

"What the hell do you want from me?" He brushed off the splinters he could with his free arm, allowing him to finish transferring mana to Megumin. "And why the hell did you have to destroy this building? And kill these people?"

"Because I want you to prove that you can be the hero capable of defeating the Demon King. And to do that, you will fight me." The gear the man wore on his head made it hard to tell, but Aurdel could see it now. There were no eyes or even a nose on this man's face, he seemed to have none. It was very well likely the same could be true of his ears but he had no way of telling as of now.

"And who the hell exactly are you to do that?"

"I'm the ultimate test, I am one the hero who picked the strongest of the cheat abilities from that fool of a Goddess sitting near you under that cloak."

He… he could see Aqua and the others under the cloak and behind the table?! "I was sent here to defeat the Demon King but I knew that I would not be capable of doing it, so I decided to find someone that could on my own. I've killed many supposed heroes to find one that was truly worthy, but you're different." What… What was this feeling? For the first time in a very long time, he was feeling fear. "You see, I've made sure to follow everything you've done. Everything that you will do. I know it all. That's why it will be you." The man picked up the body of one of the patrons, his large fist clamping around their head. The person he was gripping was obviously still alive, one of the few that had managed to cling to life with everything that happened. He clamped his fist down around the man's head, blood and brain matter spat out from the cracks in his hand. The patron went limp. "And I can tell you what you're thinking right now, you don't want to fight me. You don't plan to. Your only idea to get you and your party as far away as possible from here," he dropped the corpse.

"You don't need to be a telepath to tell that much," Aurdel grit his teeth.

"No, you don't. But I can also tell you that you're afraid of me, this is the first time you've been really afraid in years. Isn't it? You've fought armies, you've fought large beasts, you've fought Generals of the Demon King. But you're afraid of me. Good, that means you recognize real power. None of the other heroes feared me, they only blindly charged in."

"You… I don't have any reason to fight you, and you don't have any reason to fight me."

"We don't? Very well, I can see why that would be an issue for the both of us. Allow me to rectify that then," he waved his hand."

"W-what's going on?!" Aqua stammered, he turned his head and saw all five of them float in the air as the man gave a wave of his hand.

"Giving him his reason," the man said. Their bodies began to twist in painful ways.

"No!" He shouted, pulling out his sword and sword, "Let them go!"

"Very well, just know that their fate lies with your efforts. If you fail, they will die," with another wave of the hand they were sent flying away.

"You bastard… You'll pay for that."

"Only if you make me, hero. Now, come. Show me your strength." Aurdel charged straight at the man. He raised his other hand and pointed it at Aurdel, fire began to blast out. He moved his shield to block it. But he was only able to block it for a moment. Using the same hand as before he waved and Aurdel felt the shield begin to move upward from his hand. Rather than allow his shoulder to be dislocated he let go of the shield, it shooting up just after. For a moment the fire struck him but he was able to roll off to the side, attempting to move into the cover. He was trying to move behind another overturned table when it exploded before his very eyes, the man pointing a single finger at the table.

"I can see the moves you'll make before they happen, it is solely up to you to defeat me." He could see the moves he would make? What the hell… Just what ability had Aqua given him when he was sent to this world? "One far beyond your own reckoning, allowing its user to take all for one," he said, responding to his thoughts. With another finger pointed towards him, bubble-like projectiles began to shoot out towards him. Aurdel kicked chairs into their path quickly, the chairs exploding into pieces upon impact. Pressurized air… The ground began to shake, pillars of stone rose from beneath the floorboards and began to lash out towards him. With his sword he was able to cut them apart with very little issue, but they kept coming. Not to mention, they were all forcing him directly into the immediate line of sight of the man he was fighting.

The man pointed a finger and purple energy crackled around it, then a bolt of lightning shot out. In a panicked move he swung out with his sword, catching the bolt on the tip of his sword and travelling through. Luckily, since he'd covered the hilt of his sword with enough material to be insulated, it didn't shock him. Instead, it arc'd back out and towards the man that fired it. Another stone pillar rose from the ground to block the bolt, exploding upon impact. Quickly a wall was set up in front of him and blasted outwards, being thrown at him. Aurdel was unable to dodge, as well as unable to cut through the stone walls due to their thickness, and as a result was hit by the barrier. He was thrown back and threw a wall of the saloon, causing part of it to collapse due to all the damage that'd been done. More of those pressurized air projectiles shot out from the hole he'd been blown through and slammed all around him, blasting through the building.

He leapt up, if he kept staying at a distance from this guy then he wouldn't be able to get a scratch on him. He was going to have to get in close. "You cannot run, you must fight." The man said, floating in the air. "If you can beat me, you can beat the Demon King," he stepped out onto the building where Aurdel stood.

"How does that make sense if you said yourself that you knew you couldn't beat him?!" Aurdel drove forward with his sword, slashing at the man.

"Maybe it doesn't make sense to you now, it will once you face him," moving at insane speeds he managed to dodge and parry every single one of Aurdel's blows. With a punch he struck Aurdel's sword and sent him partially reeling backwards. Such strength…"He is strong, stronger than I am. You would take care to learn from this."

The man's right arm suddenly swelled up in size, bursting through the jacket and exposing it. Blood was pumping through the visible veins, the muscles on it were massive and what looked like spikes jutted out of it. Then he came about to swing, Aurdel leapt out of the way. When his arm struck it ended up hitting the roof of the building they stood on and completely obliterated it, the whole building collapsing beneath them. The other man stood firm in the air, but Aurdel fell in. Projectiles rained down towards him and destroyed his surroundings. Close range didn't work and staying at a distance didn't really work. That meant he really only had one last option to put into practice. "Hiding is not a valid tactic to fight the Demon King with. You must act, inaction is death.'

The ground around him exploded from projectiles fired at him, clouds of dirt spraying up each time. He ran into an alleyway, the corner of it exploding as soon as he passed. He needed to lose him somehow… He heard the crackling of fire and the woosh of air, fire began to shoot out all over the town. Flames rained down and covered the roads and the buildings, setting everything ablaze. He just hoped his companions were fine, if they were knocked out by whatever he'd done to throw him then they were as good as dead. "Your companions will be safe as long as you are, the Griffin included." The man came punching through a burning building, striking Aurdel with all of his might. He was sent flying back, crashing into a cart and crushing it. "Where is the hero that I watched? The one that surpassed unsurmountable odds? The one that fought things much bigger than himself. Was it perhaps all just a cleverly put together show put on?"

Aurdel rolled out of the way as two more lightning bolts came his way, incinerating the wood. "Perhaps you are not who I think you are, and you do have some secret cheating power. I would be disappointed if that was the case." Hopefully his party members were at a safe distance now, he just needed to get away himself. He tore through a nearby building and ran out into what would be the main road of the town. There was destruction all around him, with burning buildings and people slaughtered all around. He turned around when he heard a massive creaking and breaking sound behind him. The building he'd just been in was lifted into the sky with a large chunk of rock from the ground and hovered there, before being pulled apart into thousands of pieces of debris. It was all then thrown straight at him. He used his sword to block as much of it as he could but he wasn't able to get through all of it.

He was struck over and over by hundreds of little, sharp pieces of debris. His clothes were destroyed, his skin torn open and flesh exposed with blood pouring out. He fell to one knee. Damnit… The man walked through a wall of fire, coming towards him. There wasn't even a scratch on him, he couldn't hit him. "You did last longer than most, but you haven't lasted long enough. I will keep your memory alive for the next hero I find," he kept walking towards Aurdel, growing his arm again.

"Light of Saber!" He party jumped out of nowhere to attack the man.

"Bind!" Ropes wrapped around his body, he stood in place in front of Aurdel.

"I'll end this all at once!" Megumin shouted, thrusting her staff forward, "You'll pay for hurting Aurdel, Explosion!" Nothing happened… How could that be? "Eh?!" She started to tremble.

"I won't forgive you interference in my matters, they are of life and death." He easily broke out of the bind anatalia had put her in, and Yunyun's Light of Saber had barely done anything to him.

"No!" Aurdel stood up and chased after the man as he sprinted towards Megumin, who was frozen in place with fear. Darkness jumped out in front of him in an attempt to defend her companion but was simply slapped aside with unimaginable force. He wasn't able to catch up with him, he was far too injured. He was forced to watch and he grabbed her arm and lifted her into the air, he could hear the sound of bones cracking and her shoulder dislocating even from here.

"Now, I'll use your own power to punish you. By using it to test the man you were trying to save," he left her drop to the ground and turned back towards him. "How poetic, Explosion." The largest blast he'd seen yet came and struck him , he was sent flying. His vision went black and his ear drums burst but he was still managing to cling on to life and consciousness.

"Aurdel," a voice at the back of his mind said, "You must get up." That voice… It was familiar. "You have to get up, or else he will kill them. All of them." It wasn't just familiar, he knew that voice! "I know you can hear me, save them." It was the voice of someone he'd follow to hell and back if that was what it took. Save them. His eyes opened, slowly he was able to see again. He was still laying in the ground where he'd been blown, he got up. Out in front of them he could see the man walking towards him, most likely talking to him. He couldn't hear him though, and that didn't bother him. His legs shook under his own weight, charred flesh covered him and even some bone was exposed. But he stood up.

So this guy could read his thoughts? Predict his every attack before he does it? Fine, then he'll just have to do something that he has no way to block. He knew exactly what he had to do. Aurdel charged forward towards the man, ignoring the pain in his legs and everywhere else. Fire and lightning sprayed out from the man's hands, there was no going back now. He turned backwards and faced his back in the direction the destructive spells came from. Both hit him and surged through his back with an unending pain, but he took the hit. Still he ran towards him, unwilling to give up this fight. He was his orders, he would die to see them through. The man stopped shooting the spells and grew his right arm once more, swinging at Aurdel. But Aurdel avoided the blow and managed to close in the distance between him and the man, coming into close towards his upper and lower body.

He threw down one of the potions that he used to shoot out of his hand cannon, throwing it to the ground in front of the both of them to stun him. Spartan time had fully kicked in for him with the adrenaline, he was moving that than this guy was able to react to. Running up he quickly turned around, throwing his back into the man's chest. He only had one desperate gambit to use in an attempt to stop this guy. He grabbed his sword and thrust it through himself, puncturing and cutting through one of his lungs before thrusting outside and into the man he was fighting. He could feel the air leave from both his chest and the other man's, he could do this. With his other hand he grabbed his sidearm from his M6D was a powerful weapon, one easily capable of punching through his own body and hitting the man behind him especially with the rounds he had loaded.

He pushed the the gun against himself and squeezed the trigger eleven times, dumping almost the full mag. Large chunks of his flesh came bursting out but he could tell that the damage was done. He yanked the sword out and fell to the ground, turning and watching the other man shakily stood there. Then he pointed the Magnum at the man's head and fired, the helmet went flying off and he toppled over. Aurdel collapsed onto his back. He turned his head to his right where his party was, Aqua was running towards him. He waved her away, "Go heal Megumin first!" He wasn't able to hear her reply but he saw her run off towards Megumin. He placed his own burned hand on his chest, "Heal!" Using the mana he could he healed himself, undoing some of the damage. Then he put it on his head, "Heal!" His vision was completely better now and he was able to hear again, he stood up. The rest of the healing could wait.

"I was wrong…" the man said, "You are the one…"

Aurdel turned, the man was still alive. "You are the one that will defeat the Demon king, you're the one that will save the world. Come.. come here, I have a gift for you."

"You should understand if I'm a bit hesitant to approach you," he held his other arm with his own.

"Then allow me to bring you to it," he reached out his hand and pulled Aurdel closer. "For your victory I grant you my power, all of it," he put his hand on Aurdel's arm. He felt a rush come through his arm and disperse through his entire body, it felt warm.

"What did you do?"

"I gave you my power, and all the others I stole using it. Including that friend of yours," he nodded his head to where his companions were. "But now my mission is finished, I've done as I should. There is only one thing left to do."

"And why should I? Why shouldn't I leave you here to suffer?"

"Because I've been alive for too long, far longer than I should have been allowed. Besides, it'll give you the experience you need." Aurdel drew his sword, "It's only fitting after all." He took his sword and plunged it through the mask of the man, he felt the body go limp after a moment of contact with his blade. That battle was finished. He sheathed his sword.

* * *

"Everyone, are you all right?"

"We're fine, but speak for yourself!" Anatalia said, "Just look at the condition you're in."

"Nothing that can't be fixed."

"Oh, right. Heal!" Aqua fixed up the remainder of his wounds.

He tightened his hands, then released them. Good, all of his senses were fully back to normal now. "I'm not sure if that guy left any survivors around here. Darkness, can you help Aqua look around for anybody still alive? And Aqua, can you revive anyone you find if you're able to?"

"We can do that Aurdel," Darkness said.

"Yeah, just leave it to this Goddess!" The two of the left their group to go search the town, he wasn't exactly sure of what they'd find. Most of the town was in shambles from the attack and the few parts that weren't were still burning down.

"What about us Aurdel, what are we going to do?" Yunyun asked.

"We're going to go find Everest and the carriage. Partly to check and make sure everything is okay, partly because I need a new change of clothes."

"I don't know, I like the rugged look," Anatalia said.

"It isn't exactly practical to say the least," they rounded the corner. Here was where they'd left their carriage and Everest while they went and got something to eat, however… "There's the carriage, but where's Everest?" He looked around.

Megumin tugged on his arm, "Aurdel, why is there a woman with wings trying to put on our clothing in her carriage?" He looked back.

"Ah master, there you are!"

"What."


	32. Chapter 32

**...The End of This Road...**

"Are you really sure he's fine?" Yunyun asked.

"I said I'm sure he's fine, really you have to stop asking questions over and over. No wonder you were always bullied and didn't have any-" Megumin whacked Aqua. "Hey! What was that for?! You've said stuff like that before so what's wrong with me saying it?!"

"People change," and she turned away. The question she kept asking and the reason she kept asking was because Aurdel was unconscious. He had been right in the middle of a conversation with them, about to leave the town, when he suddenly fainted and fell to the ground. They knew that it wasn't because of any lingering injuries because Aqua made sure to heal him, multiple times in fact. And they also knew that he wasn't dead because he was still breathing. His head rested quietly on her lap as he slept, softly breathing. She was worried about him. It was times like these that helped her remember how much he'd done for them all.

He always gave it his all, pushing himself to his limit to make sure they stayed safe and got what they wanted. He died protecting them all the Crimson Demon village, it'd almost happened when they encountered that dragon and it'd almost happened again here. She wished he could just have some time to relax, not to worry about the next fight or quest and just enjoy things. Because even when everyone else was relaxing at home when they weren't on a quest he was always getting ready for the next one. She stroked his head, it looked like he almost flinched in response. It hurt to see that. She knew he'd been through a lot, most of that time fighting, but she really didn't know all of what had happened. Hopefully sometime soon there'd be an opportunity to ask about it. "When he wakes up, I"ll have to say sorry to him," Anatalia said, "If I didn't make him take us on this trip then he wouldn't have been injured like he was or end up like this.

"I don't think he'd let you say that," Yunyun said.

"You're right," Anatalia smiled, "He'd probably just say that it's fine, that he's willing to do anything for us."

Darkness nodded in agreement, "I do think that he would say that too. But don't you think it's odd?"

"What's odd?" Megumin asked.

"That he always throws himself into such horrible dangers. Really I do appreciate it, but it should be a job for someone with the likes of me. He leads us but always makes sure that he's the one that takes the brunt of every impact or fight."

"Isn't that what party members are supposed to do for each other?"

"It is, but he seems to do it almost religiously. It worries me, especially if we really are going to have to defeat the Demon King at some point."

"Who cares if he goes and gets himself killed? I just want to get home at some point, and that means he has to defeat the Demon King," Aqua said, putting one leg over another.

"D-don't say that," Yunyun stuttered, "Now you're really making me worry."

"When you say that, I'm not so sure going after the Demon King really is a good idea," Megumin whispered. "If we did, he'd almost certainly try to protect us no matter what happens. And if he struggled so much just against that man who knows what the Demon King is really like?" They looked at each other with worried eyes.

"Eh? Where's all that enthusiasm you used to have Megumin? Didn't you say you wanted to be the one who took down the Demon King?" Aqua said almost mockingly.

"Quiet you," Anatalia said, wrapping something around Aqua's mouth. She struggled and let out muffled shouts as she tried to take whatever it was off of her mouth. "Even if we told him all that I don't think he would change his mind on going to defeat the Demon King. If anything, it'd just encourage him more."

"You're probably right, I just hope that despite it all he'll stay alive."

"Puah!" Aqua managed to tear the thing that was on her mouth off, "If he does do it it'll be because he gets a wish for defeating the Demon King, one with no limits."

"What would he wish for?" Yunyun asked, pondering the possible answers.

"Probably something boring, he was always a real stick in the mud."

"Why don't you ever show any respect towards Aurdel? You're always making remarks towards him."

"I say all the things I do because I respect him."

"I'm not sure I understand…"

"If I didn't then I'd act like a prim and proper Archpriest, though may I say I am an exemplary Archpriest and Goddess, but because I do I let loose whatever's on my mind."

"That makes sense, in a messed up kind of way," Anatalia could at least see where Aqua was coming from with what she was saying.

"Fox Lady!" Everest shouted, "We're where you wanted to go!" They all looked out the front of the carriage, staring out at the large sight before them.

"What is this place?"

"This is the city of Avalon," they all looked out at the sprawling city before them.

"It's… amazing…" Darkness said. The city was filled with tall buildings, some taller than even those in the capital. But the city itself was near the scale of the capital itself and built upon an island in the middle of a massive lake. They passed over the paved brick bridge and entered the city limits "Why are all these towns and cities we've come across here so far so much bigger than the ones we have?"

"Our species has a much higher reproduction than humans do. That means more people, and more people means more space is needed to house them all."

The bridge ended and they entered the city itself, passing through a large gate. The streets were all filled with people going about their daily lives. "Anatalia, how exactly did you find this lead about your sister?"

"I still have connections here in the country, a few friends working in government and as professional Thieves. They kept an eye out for me and eventually they found the guy who teleported my sister here."

"Are you sure he'll even remember where he teleported her? A year is a long time and it's very possible that he forgot where he put her."

"If he doesn't remember, then I'll make him remember," she showed claw like hands to emphasize her point about what she intended to do.

"And if that doesn't help either?"

"Then I'll just have to keep looking, no matter how long it takes." It became silent between them after that.

Darkness broke the silence, "Anatalia, I'm only seeing other foxes like you in this part of the city. Why is that?"

"Different subspecies tend to keep to themselves, we just happen to be in the quarter for foxes. That island community that Aurdel found was a rare case, it doesn't really happen that often here on the mainland. Those that were like that sat around where the North-South split happened, so they got destroyed early on."

"This continent is a lot darker than our own," Yunyun said, carefully stroking Aurdel's head again.

"Everyone has their own way of living, ours just happens to this way. Everest, stop here." Everest stopped, Anatalia stepped out.

"Hey Fox Lady, I want to have something to eat."

"Sure, worse comes to worst I'll feed that guy to you."

"Hurray!" The Griffin changed into her human-like form, flapping her wings.

"Because I know that Aurdel wouldn't allow that, I'm going with you," Darkness said.

"And we'll stay here with Aurdel," both Yunyun and Megumin said.

"Hey, what about me?" Aqua whined

"Sleep," Yunyun put her to sleep. Neither of them really wanted to have her around so this would be the best solution.

"Alright then, lets go."

* * *

"This feels strange..." Darkness said, "I can tell that there are a lot of eyes following us, specifically me, as we walk."

"Not many humans come here, those that do are usually mercenaries. Can't really blame people for being a little wary." They kept walking. "And besides, I'm not exactly an unknown face either. They can't help but stare when they see someone with a multi-million bounty on their head. We won't find trouble though, not even with the guards, given how well know I am."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, it's how I got out of the country in the first place."

"Fox Lady, I'm hungry!"

"I told you that I'd feed you that guy if things didn't go well, didn't I?"

"And I said I wouldn't let that happen, did I?" Darkness sighed, "What's this guy like anyways? I feel like we should know before we just burst in."

"He really didn't show up until right before the war, but the community trusted him so I did. I only had him send my sister away because other people sent family away through him."

"But he disappeared at some point?"

"He did, no one knew where he went until recently. My friends found him living here under a different name."

"That sounds suspicious to me…"

"It does to me too."

"Somehow I feel like Aurdel would assume the worst in it, that he was some manner of criminal."

"Don't say that, you're making me worried now," she creased her forehead, "I don't want to assume the worst because there's no fault in believing in the best."

"I suppose you're right."

They continued walking down the street. "Hey! Someone stop that man!" A voice shouted, they looked ahead. There was a wolf man running away from a pair of women, purses in his hands.

"That should teach you to be a little more careful in public you damn broads!" The wolf man shouted back towards them. He didn't get too far.

"Bind!" Anatalia used her skill to tie the man up in ropes, he tripped and fell to the ground. "I forgot to mention, there's a lot of tension between the quarters because of people like this." She kicked the wolf man in the side, then picked up the purses.

"Stupid broad, I'm just trying to make a living."

"Well find another way to do it," she kicked him much harder in the stomach and threw the purses back to the two women. "We can leave him to the crowd that usually takes care of cleaning up this trash. Come on." And they walked away, able to hear a mob forming around the wolf as they left.

"This is the place," Anatalia pushed open the door to a store at the side of the road.

"Ah, welcome, please come in. Everything here is for sale, for the right price." The man who said it was snake-like, sitting behind the counter. Rather than a human lower body he had that of a snake, scales and all.

"Everything?" Anatalia asked, "How about information?"

"Sure, I have plenty to sell. A lot of people pass through here."

"I'm sure of it, most of them by teleportation I presume."

"Yes they-" The snake stopped and narrowed his eyes, "What are you after?"

"I know who you are Nachash, I want-"

"Don't say that name so loudly!" He hushed, "You'll get me arrested, just what do you want?"

"I want you to tell me where you teleported my sister to," She leaned on the counter.

"Your sister? Who are you…?" Once the snake had a closer look at Anatalia something changed in his eyes, fear. "Oh, your sister! I teleported her to Alcanretia. Yes, that's where I sent her."

"No, you didn't. And I know that because I spent quite a long amount of time there. That's strike one for you," she extended out her claws.

He put his hands up, "Look! I don't know where she is! Honest!" He backed away from the counter a little, but Anatalia made sure there wasn't any serious distance between them.

"Wire Trap!" She set up a trap on both sides, making sure he wasn't able to leave.

"You're crazy! You two!" He shouted, looking at Darkness and Everest, "Get the guards, she's going to kill me!"

They said nothing to soothe his fear, "That's strike two." She gave him a cut under the eye with her right claw, "You're going to tell me where she is or that's going to be your throat." Her white fur looked like it was beginning to change color, there was a pink hue that seemed to be turning red more and more. Everest let out a coo, questioning what was going on.

"Alright, alright! Just back off." He brushed himself, wiping the blood from his cheek as she stopped leaning on the counter. "They forced me to do it."

"Do what? And who?"

"Some female Demon, with red hair and light skin. Said she needed a bunch of kids for something, don't know what she was planning to do with them." It looked like the thought was processing in Anatalia's head, then came to some realization.

"You bastard! How could you!" She grabbed him by the collar of his her and growled, her fur turning ever more red.

"She would have killed me if I didn't do it for her!" He was keeping his eyes locked on her, unmoving and unflinching.

"Then what the hell do you think I'm going to do about you?"

"You're going to die!" His head sprang up and fangs popped out from his mouth, he'd prepared to sink his fangs into her flesh. But he never had the chance. A loud bang sounded out and Nachash fell to the floor, dead.

"No she won't."

"Aurdel!" All three of them turned to look, they saw Aurdel in the doorway slightly leaning on Megumin and Yunyun.

"I had a feeling something like that might happen," he tossed over a bucket that caught Everest's interest, the Griffin dashing straight over and beginning to eat from it. "They told me what you said while you were still in the carriage, I could tell something was going to go wrong from the start so I came over as quickly as possible." He put away the weapon he'd used, and looked straight at her. Her fur was a full red, some of it coming from the blood that splattered out of Nachash. She slowly walked over to him as he sat down at a chair by the wall, then she collapsed onto him in a mess of sobs. He brushed her head and rocked her gently back and forth, "It's okay, it's okay. We'll get her back. I promise." And eventually she calmed down, the red hue disappearing from her fur. "We'll get all of them back."

* * *

They all sat with each other in the carriage, they were heading to a place outside the city. "There were two secrets that I was keeping from you all," Anatalia held herself, "The first was that, what you saw in the store." She sighed, "I'm not normal, even among my people. In my family there was this special ability we've had, though only one person at a time, coming from my father's side. It's how I was able to defend my sister from the Hyperboreans."

"When I heard that you somehow had killed all those massive beasts to protect your sister, I felt that there was something you were leaving out. I didn't want to press you too hard about it."

"It's fine. But because of that ability I was able to protect my sister, my fur becoming red because of it is just because of all the blood I was covered in when it happened. For some reason it always comes back."

"A permanent mark."

"Right," she lowered her head. "I didn't want to say anything about it because I was never really proud of who I was. I'm a Thief now, but for a long time my parents were prepping me to become a Knight. They probably did that because of the ability, but…" She gripped her hands on her knees, "I don't think they ever imagined things would ever turn out like this. "

"As much as you might feel like there's something wrong with you, or that it's your fault, it's not. You didn't do anything wrong, you were just caught up in things too big for you," he comforted her. "But now we need to save your sister, that's what it's important."

"Right," she smiled, but it faded. "That's why we're going this way, because of that second secret I need to show you."

The place they were heading towards rested upon a hill, barred of with iron gates and fences. "Is this… a cemetery?" Darkness asked.

"It is, my family's cemetery." With the gates open they were easily able to roll in and stop the carriage, all of them climbed out. "It's where my parents and everyone before them were buried, here on this hill. My dad always took us here when we were young to see one specific grave. Back then I never really understood it, I only thought he was being overdramatic about his grandad. But after I met you, Aurdel, I understood everything he meant."

"What do you mean?" She led them all towards a large mausoleum in the middle of it all. Once at it she pulled out a key and opened the door,

Aurdel fell to his knees, "S-Sam?" He couldn't believe his eyes, he had to be imagining it… No, he wasn't imagining it. In front of him was a casket, one put together with careful dedication and effort. But next to it…? Next to it was a set of armor set in place with three numbers. Zero, Three, Four.

"Dad always talked about how great of a person he was, but I never got to know him. But after meeting you I feel like I've learned it all."

"Eh? Are we looking at dead people?" Aqua chimed in.

"You!" He shouted, shooting up and grabbing Aqua by the shoulders. He shook her violently, "How could you?! After everything we went through?! After everything all of us went through?!"

"What are you-?"

"We lost our homes! We lost our families! We lost our childhood! We lost everything! And then we fought for years, years! There was no end and the only way out was dying, but everyone relied on us!" There were tears in his eyes now. "We all went through so much… How many of us did you send here?! How many of us did you take away our only chance for peace because you were too lazy to do anything?!" He fell to his knees again, holding his head. "God I remember what they were like, I remember what all of them were like! We were all scared and we had no other choice! We…! We…" He couldn't hold it together anymore as he broke down in front of everyone, leaning against the wall. "God I still have nightmares because of it all, because of everything."

He covered his eyes as they crowded around him to comfort him. "We lost thirty all in one day because of those stupid augmentations, thirty of our best friends all at once! And none of them went quietly either. I was lucky because I survived, but I wasn't lucky enough to be knocked out. I heard all of it. The pain, the agony." He pulled himself together a little bit, but it immediately slipped away. "Then there were all of those that died while I fought in space, and I couldn't do anything about it. I could only hear about them. Sam, Kurt, Cal, Randal. Then there was everyone at Reach, everyone I couldn't save." He took a deep breath and shook his head, "And to think, when my dad asked me what I wanted to do when up I said that I wanted to help people. I can't help anyone."

"That's wrong," Yunyun said, "You've helped plenty of people, you've helped all of us."

"Yeah," Megumin said, "Who knows where any of those would be if it weren't for you."

"And it's not just us," Darkness said, "Everywhere you go you try to do what's best for everyone, you make sure to put yourself in the line of fire to make sure other people stay safe."

"You've helped everyone more than you can imagine," Anatalia said.

"As much as I don't want to say it, they're right," Aqua added. Everest simply nuzzled her beak into his shoulder, softly.

"And you did that all without asking for anything in return. If there's anyone to be proud of, it's you." With that he looked up, and he smiled through the tears.

"Alright, let's go save your sister."

**...We Are Here…**

"So, what exactly would the Demon King's want with a bunch of kids from here?" Aurdel asked.

"Luciferites, that's what," Anatalia said.

"Luciferites?"

"They're a race of Demons from local myth, stories of children being kidnapped during the night and being cursed to become them.

"I see, that is really cruel."

"Aurdel, are you really going to believe some crazy local superstition?" Aqua whined.

"Superstition or not, kids are being kidnapped by the Demon King and his army and I'll be damned if I leave and let it continue. That means we're going to save them. But at the same time that means no using lethal means, and no purification magic either. The last thing we want to do is kill the kids we're trying to save. He turned back to Anatalia, "Is there any way to differentiate them from normal Demons?"

"They'll look extremely similar to their former selves, but somewhat corrupted. That means you have to look for tails, ears, wings or anything else like that."

"Alright, got it. Yunyun, Megumin, Anatalia, you'll all come with me. Aqua, Darkness, you two will go with Everest and go in from the other side."

"But if I can't use purification magic then how am I supposed to fight?!"

"You're not going to fight, they're just kids. We need non-lethal means so we can save them all." The carriage stopped and all of them climbed out. Darkness and Aqua climbed onto Everest's back, the trio stampeding away towards the camp. He and the others meanwhile went on foot towards the camp, which wasn't that far away. Apparently this camp had been here for quite some time, but with the war going on neither had the time or resources to spare on wiping them out. It was a mistake he was going to correct. "Yunyun, make sure to use only Sleep and Paralyze. That won't hurt them."

"What about me Aurdel?" Megumin asked.

"You'll prepare an Explosion spell. If they have some big operation like this going on, then they're bound to have a General or some other strong boss around. I want you to be ready when that happens."

"You can count on me!" With that they had their plan. He dropped a point in the fields as they ran. The encampment itself wasn't too far away from where they stopped, comprised of a few buildings and mostly tents all surrounded by a large stone brick wall.

He ran his hand against the wall as they came close. "How are we supposed to get in?" Yunyun asked. It was a fair question. If they went in through the front they were sure to be spotted and either captured or forced to kill. What they needed was another way of entering, one they wouldn't expect.

"Give me a moment."

Aurdel dug his fingers into the stone wall, feeling along the edges of each brick and searching for the cracks between them. Eventually he had what was essentially a map of the brick layout in his mind. He figured that now was a good time to put those supposed powers he'd received from that man who'd attacked them. "What are you…?" Megumin began to ask. He pulled his hand away from the wall slowly, there was the sound of stone grinding on itself as chunks of the wall began to slide out. "Woah… How are you doing that?"

"If I'm going to be honest, I don't know how. But it takes a lot of concentration," he closed his eyes to focus on pulling out the stones. Eventually they became free and he gently placed them down onto the grass behind them. "Alright, in we go." The four of them stepped through the human sized hole and entered the just that he felt a rush of emotions. He could feel it all, everyone in the area. It was almost overwhelming.

"Aurdel, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's keep going." He led them through the camp, going behind the buildings and tents. From there he was able to see the kids turned into Demons. It was a heart wrenching sight, their bodies emaciated and discolored from whatever had been done to them. His right hand curled up into a fist. "Anatalia, can you see her?"

"No, no yet. I don't see her among any of them. I'd have to see more of them to be able to tell."

"Then we'll just have to get in closer," he wasn't entirely sure about it though. "But I don't think I should, if we go in there and the start to attack us I can't exactly hold back enough to not hurt them. I don't want that to happen."

"I understand, we'll go in," Yunyun said motioning to Anatalia, who nodded.

"Wait," he put a hand on her shoulder, "Let me transfer you some mana, so you don't have the chance of running out while you're there." He transferred some to both of them, also handing some rope to Anatalia to use with her bind skill.

The pair ran forward and further into the camp where all of the Luciferites were, attracting their attention. They charged towards them. "Sleep!" For some reason Yunyun's magic appeared to be much stronger than usual, people a whole group of them to sleep. The same could be said for Anatalia's skills.

"Bind!" She was able to bind a much larger amount of people with a single use, they thrashed around on the ground trying to break out of their bonds. But even with seeing the others get taken down by them they continued to rush towards them. Watching them work together well brought some ease to his heart, then he thought of something.

"Hey, where is Darkness and Aqua?"

"Hmm?" Megumin looked around, "You're right, where could they have gone?" They searched through the sky and the area around them, but they were unable to find them. "Could they have gotten lost?"

"I mean it's possible, but I didn't exactly expect them too. Everest doesn't seem the type to run off and I thought that even if she was, Darkness would be able to control her."

"Then maybe they're waiting to do a counter attack?"

"I wouldn't give them that much credit, let's just wait and see if they show up." And so they waited, watching Yunyun and Anatalia as they put to sleep and secured more and more of the Luciferites. Looking at all of them made them wonder how exactly they were supposed to help them all. If they couldn't use purification magic, then what would work? He had to think back to what Anatalia had said. There might be some sort of clue there…

"What's going on here?!" A woman's voice shouted, sounding oddly familiar. Where had he heard it before?

The woman stepped out into view of everyone, she held up her hand and the Luciferites stopped charging towards Yunyun and Anatalia. "What do we have here? A Fox and a… Crimson Demon? Wasn't Sylvia supposed to deal with you?"

"Us Crimson Demons aren't ones to be pushed around, so we dealt with her instead."

"I see…" Now he recognized where he knew that voice from. Back at Alcanretia, at the baths. There'd been a woman and a man in the mixed baths talking, one of them having turned out to be Hans. That very same woman he'd been with stood before him now. "I can't have you disrupting things here, so I'll just blow you away." She reached out a hand and began chanting, Megumin gasped.

"That's… Explosion Magic! I know that woman!"

"You know her? Well, great, but right now we have bigger issues to deal with. More importantly she's about to blow away our comrades and the kids included."

Megumin's expression became determined, she realized the gravity of the situation. "Be ready to hit her with Explosion once I drag her out of the camp."

"But how are you going to do that?"

"I'll make it up as I go," and he charged out from cover behind the building, nimbly dodging between the Luciferites that held position around Yunyun and Anatalia.

"What the?! Who are-?!" The woman shouted.

"Long time no see!" He charged towards her, making it look like he was about to throw a punch at her. She raised her arms to defend herself. But he feigned her, "Wind Breath!" He opened his palm and shot out a gust of wind, one more powerful than he'd ever seen himself do before. The woman went flying. Had that man really given him some amount of power?

The others looked stunned as he charged towards where he'd thrown her, seeing her crash through a tent. He did it again, "Wind Breath!" She went flying straight up into the air, he really felt like he was in his prime. As he looked up he heard a loud eagle screech, followed by the woman being grabbed by Everest's large talons and being tossed completely away from the encampment. "Megumin, let's go!"

"Got it!" She rushed over towards him and grabbed his arm.

"Teleport!" For the first time he used the Teleport spell Yunyun had taught him, teleporting to the point he'd set outside the camp.

"Damn…" he heard the woman say, holding her head as she stood up from the grass.

"Do you remember me?" Megumin asked, pointing her staff towards the woman.

"Who are you? Another Crimson Demon, you all look the same if you ask me." Then she got a closer look, "Wait a minute… you do look familiar." Another moment passed by, "I know you, you're that little girl who wanted to learn Explosion from me!"

"I'm not a little girl! I'm a grown woman!"

"You don't look very grown to me… But what do you want? Especially if you're with that man," she pointed towards him.

"I wanted us to compare our Explosions, to see if the apprentice has surpassed the master."

"You really want to compare our magic?" Megumin nodded, "Very well, I'll rise to your challenge." She began chanting her Explosion magic once before, then stopped. "Aren't you going to chant your magic?"

"I already have. Explosion!" And Megumin blasted her with everything she had.

* * *

Aurdel and the others gathered all of the Luciferites into one spot of the camp. "Aqua, it's your turn."

"You got it! Sacred Highness Break Spell!" A cloud of darkness appeared above all of them, then was lifted from their bodies. It was as Anatalia had said, they were cursed. Fortunately for them they had a Goddess that could break any curse that she came across. An army of cherubim descended to lift the dark cloud up to the heavens where they disappeared. All of them began to wake up once it'd been limited.

"Saria!" Anatalia shouted, grabbing one of the kids and hugging her tight.

"Big sister Anatalia!" A young voice shouted back, the two of them spinning and laughing together.

"I was so scared," Anatalia's sister said.

"I know you were, but you stayed strong. And I came to get you like I said, didn't I?" There tears of happiness in her eyes as she looked back toward them, they all walked over. "Saria, these are the people that helped me find you and save you."

"Thank you so much!" The young fox ran up to each one of them and gave them all a hug.

"So Aurdel, what happens now?" Yunyun asked, "What's going to happen with all the other kids?"

"We'll try and get them back to their families, they'll want to know their children are safe and sound."

"And if we can't find them?"

"Then we'll find them homes, loving ones. No matter what it takes. Now come here, all of you. I think a hug is in order." They all grouped together, that's when he noticed them all rushing over. "I WASN'T EXPECTING ALL OF THEM TO RUSH OVER!" They were swarmed by the kids they'd just saved.

* * *

"Ready?"  
"Ready." It took them some time to do, but over a length of about a few days they were able to find homes for all of the kids. Now all that there was to do was to go back to their own.

"Teleport!" The two of them cast their Teleport spell together. After having saved the kids he also made sure to look for the prefab he'd requested, finding it in the mountains of the countryside. There he found it among other things that had somehow drifted here. Even the wreck of the UNSC Io was here, leading him to wonder whether or not Cole was buried somewhere around here. But it was besides the point.

The world shook around them for a moment, but then it steadied. The two of them wobbled around a little bit after having used so much mana to teleport such a long distance. But safe to say, they were home. "Anatalia, you can start getting things ready for your sister. The rest of you can go too. I'm going to have to sit down for a little."

"Don't worry Aurdel, I'll have everything set up for her by myself." They all left the prefab, parked in the yard of the mansion in a spot he'd set before this long journey. He yawned as he entered the mansion.

"Welcome back everyone," Wiz said, "Hopefully your journey was a success."

"It was, we-" He stopped for a moment, looking at the three people with Wiz. "Wiz, why are they here?"


	33. Chapter 33

**...Disaster Strikes...**

Aristus wandered the streets of the capital, he was in the middle of performing his daily patrol. It was a part of his everyday routine to go out into the city to look for criminals to fight. Unlike other heroes he cared about the little guy and knew that while the Demon King and his army were a large threat, those who harassed the commoners, mostly those criminals and those small time thieves, were the real threat to the nation. It'd been clear to him that it was an issue the guards weren't able to solve alone, that's why he wasn't surprised when they essentially gave him free range to hunt through the city looking for them. With him was his trained wolf pack of six wolves: Lupus, Rex, Canis, Violet, Gabriel and Kent. All of them were loyal and smart, easily capable of picking out the intentions of any person they found in their way. They were able to pick up on distress and able to locate their enemies, meaning that it was possible for them to single out any person from a crowd of people.

He scratched Gabriel behind the ears. Personally he still wondered what had happened to that adventurer he'd taught his Subjugation skill to. He'd set off on a quest to subjugate a Griffin and a Manticore. One alone was a tough task, but both of them? It was practically impossible, not to mention dangerous to him and to anyone he brought with him. But who knows, maybe he succeeded. He'd be interested in seeing a Griffin up close so he could only hope that by some manner of effort he'd succeeded. But besides all of that he just hoped that he survived the encounter. That man was different from other heroes, certainly a lot more hard working than those that had actual cheat abilities. Seeing those people made him sick to his stomach. They were praised by other people because of what they did, but what effort did they really put in towards 'saving' them? All that they do is kill a few monsters when they show up, take everyone's tax money as a reward and laze around until the next ones come around.

Not to mention he had his own negative experiences with those "heroes" in the past. It was when he was still young and his village was under attack by the Demon King. One of those "heroes" came in and fought them, causing an ungodly amount of damage to the village in the process. Then, after that, he ended up extorting all of the villagers of all their money, only for them to later pay the same man a reward for the same act. Seeing that happen made him sick, just remembering it was awful. But he had one bright fact to hold on to. And what was that? The fact that that man was dead now, killed as a result of his own hubris. A fitting end. It's not like all of them were bad people though, it's just that there were certainly more bad ones than good. But one fact of the matter was that if they really were heroes on a quest to defeat the Demon King, then the Demon King would be dead by now. Unfortunately he isn't, which meant that people like him had to suffer because of it for years. Who knows, maybe that would change sometime soon. Gabriel lifted his head and pointed his nose forward, sniffing the air. "What is it boy? You smell something?" When he jumped up, barked and ran off. The other wolves barked and chased after him, Aristus did the same and followed them. They tore through alleyways, markets, public squares and landed in the middle of one of the main streets.

When he caught up to his wolves he found them surrounding a woman dressed with black hair and dressed in priestly attire."Hey, what are you guys doing? Knock it off." He shooed them away from the woman, how could they have messed up so badly? It was the first time they'd gone after a Priest, especially one so kind looking. "I'm sorry about that, I don't know why they chose to go after you. They usually don't go crazy like this."

"Oh it's fine, I like dogs anyway," she crouched down and put out a hand towards one of his wolves, they growled in response.

"Easy boy…" He shook his head, "Really, I don't know what's gotten into them."

"Don't worry, like I said it's fine." She tilted her head and stood up, "What's your name?"

"My name is Aristus, you?"

"Ah, no wonder you have these wolves! I've heard of you. My name is Serana." They shook hands, his wolves were still growling with their eyes focused on Serana. It really was strange, they only acted this kind of way when they picked up someone with a malevolent aura. But he didn't see anything wrong with her, she was just a simple Priest. "Why don't we walk together? We can talk as we go."  
"Sure, I wouldn't mind," and she slipped her arm under his and they began to walk, his wolves following them and still cautiously watching the woman.

"It must be hard fighting the Demon King alone."

"I'm not alone, I have my pups," he motioned back to his wolves with his free hand, they were still following.

"Ah, you're right. But you don't have any party members or anyone like that, it's a big difference compared to the other heroes in this city."

"I'd rather not be compared to the 'heroes' here in the capital, a good portion of them make me sick."

"Oh?" She said curiously, "Why's that?"

"They don't really care about fighting the Demon King or the real threats that are posed against both the people of this country or even this city."

"Real threats? Don't you consider the Demon King to be the greatest threat there is?"

"The largest threat is all the petty criminals that are ignored because of the attacks and battles with the Demon King, they get away with everything and the people of it."

"I suppose you are right in a way," she was silent for a moment, "You know, I don't think what those 'heroes' do is right either, just for a different reason."

"What would that reason be?"

"The Demon King is not who many truly believe him to be."

"Oh?" Now he raised an eyebrow, curious. "And what might his true form be?"  
"He is that of a young girl, cursed by others to become the monster she is now. However with time the curse will disappear, making it needless to throw lives into the wind in a fight that will ultimately end by itself. All the negative rumors spread about the Demon King are the influence of the Crimson Demons and the Axis Cult, two groups of crazies in this world. Were it not for their actions and words there would be no war to begin with."

"I can see why that might make you think heroes aren't right, but even with that wouldn't it still make sense to fight the attacks? Personally responsible or not, and being aware of his own actions or not, people will still die from the attacks. Someone has to defend against them."

"That might be true to someone like you, but not to me as a Priest. While I might carry a mace at my side I don't truly believe in violence as a means of solving an issue. I believe that it might be entirely possible to negotiate and peaceful end to the conflict, then allow her to simply become her true form once the curse runs out."

"I'm not so sure about that," she seemed confused, "Too many people peg their lives on the conflict, where it be fighting in it or producing for it. They wouldn't let it just end all of a sudden. And I doubt you could convince any of the 'heroes' to join any sort of negotiations, they believe they're on a quest set for them by the gods to take down the Demon King. Even if they laze around all day they still hold onto that idea and won't budge from it."

"That certainly is a negative way to look at it. Maybe if I talked to those heroes I could be able to convince them of otherwise, it certainly wouldn't hurt to try."

"It'd be a fruitless effort," his wolves kept growling. It was a low growl, something felt off. The few times they were wrong about something they usually changed their stance quickly, but they hadn't changed at all. They were still as aggressive in attempting to pursue this woman as earlier.

"Still, I would like to try. Could you guide me to the Hero Bar? I would like to speak with some of the people there."

"I suppose I could." He led her down the road towards the bar. An ever more anxious feeling was growing in his mind, he needed to test this woman. "Why don't we take a shortcut? We'll be able to get there faster."

"I wouldn't mind that at all." He wasn't planning to take a shortcut however, he was planning to corner her. He walked off of the main road with her and into an alleyway off to the side, "Why did you stop?"

"Who are you really?" He looked her dead in the eyes, their arms still interlocked. Because of the way they were positioned her mace was blocked by his body, meaning that her only means of fighting, if she truly was some sort of enemy, was cut off. But if she really was a Priest then she wouldn't fight.

"What do you mean? I'm just a Priest, I don't like-"

"If you're a Priest then what sect do you follow?"

"Oh my Goddess is an obscure one, I don't think you'd know who she is."

"I'm actually quite educated, even if I came from a family of commoners. You can test my knowledge."

"Really, this is too sudden and aggressive. Is it really right to treat a Priest like this? No less a female Priest?"

"That is if you're even a Priest, for all I know you could have killed one and stolen her clothes. I want to know who you really are."

"This is just-" He stepped on her foot, to pressure her into actually answering. That was when he felt a pain about twice as hard in his own foot, causing him to jolt back reflexively and let go of her. The kind look she had before was gone, replaced with a serious expression. "You shouldn't have done that."

Obscure Goddess? Priest? Damage reflection? "You're a worshipper of the Dark Goddess Regina. You're the General of the Demon King's army, the only human in it, Seresdina."

"You're a smart one, aren't you? Death!" She chanted a curse at him, but Rex leapt into the air and was struck by it. His pup fell to the stone ground dead.  
"No!" He pulled out his halberd and prepared to fight, his wolves swarming around the woman. Each one attacked her but ended up falling back and whimpering in pain, any damage that they did to her was reflected back towards them. It would be the same for him. He just needed to do enough damage to render her unconcious, then have his pups go find someone that could keep her incapacitated until she was brought to a place where she could be dealt with.

She unslung her mace from her side, "I didn't lie about not enjoying fighting directly, I prefer to manipulate things in my favor."

"As expected of a follower of the Dark Goddess of Manipulation," he thrust forward with his halberd towards Seresdina. He first blows missed, but he managed to score a strike across her chest. He felt the pain reflected towards himself, a sharp pain shooting across his chest.

He fell to one knee holding the spot with the pain, "You may know what I am, but you certainly don't know how to fight me. Death!" She chanted the same curse again, this time Lupus jumped up to save him from his death.

"You bitch!" He swiped across her feet with his halberd, knocking her off of them and onto the cold ground. He fell too, completely losing his balance from the strike. This was absolutely not good. Because they were in an alleyway and not the main road there was very little room to work with and move around, one wrong step and he could easily end up straight in her line of sight and be provided an instant death because of her curse. He knocked over a stack of barrels to give himself some cover, at the same time seeing if he could try and get one to hit her. None of them hit her, but he was provided with a someway half-decent wall to block her from him.

Another one of his pups jumped over the barrels. "Death!" Canis fell.

He kicked a barrel with his legs, sending it to hit this woman. It rolled past her, but it distracted her enough to allow him to come closer. He attacked again with his halberd, cutting across her arms and legs with blood visibly coming out. The pain and damage again was reflecting towards himself. He was barely able to stand up, only able to do so because of the pain tolerance he'd built over the years. With a solid thrust me embedded his halberd into her right thigh, she let out a squeal as they both tumbled back. He pulled it out, "Death!" She cast her curse again, this time it was Violet. He only had two of his pups left, and he wouldn't let her kill them. He slashed at her, cutting her all over her body. The amount of pain he felt was absurd, but she slumped against the wall. She looked unconscious. He himself could barely stay conscious, but he had to get the message out. He motioned for Gabriel to come over towards him, but the wolf froze. "Death!" Kent fell.

"Gabriel, run! As quickly as you can, find Six!" His last pup sprinted off at top speeds, leaving the alleyway.

"Heal!" Seresdina healed all of the wounds on her body and stood up, "You know I didn't expect this to happen, but it'll work just as well."

"Just kill me already…"

"No no no, we're going to do the opposite. You're going to kill me."

"What…?"

"Because I follow the Dark Goddess Regina I have a death curse on me, a rather large one at that. So if I'm killed all of those around me will die too. And what better place to do it than in the capital? No less, right in the middle of all the cheat heroes?" No! How couldn't he have seen it?! She leaned over him and placed a hand on his face, caressing his cheek. "Don't worry, it'll all be over soon," she whispered words into his ear.

* * *

"You can speak wolf?" Aqua asked Everest.

"That's besides the point!" Aurdel shouted at her.

"Unfortunately the prediction relayed by this wolf is correct. The capital was wiped out in a single blow," Rain looked over towards the tear-eyed Darkness who was holding the crying Sylphina. "All the heroes in the city died. All the nobles were called to the city too, by a well crafted invitation, and those that showed up were also killed when the death curse was activated. That includes the head of the house of Dustiness and several of its members."

"How were you able to escape the range of the death curse?" He asked.

"I and Lady Claire were pursuing the Princess outside of its range, she'd broken out of the castle by herself to search for you. So in a way the boldness you taught her saved her life, so I must thank you for that."

"It's not something I should really take credit for. But where is she now?"

"Currently she's outside the capital with Claire and the Knights she's managed to gather, they're currently fighting off an army the Demon King sent right after to take the capital. Currently the battle is at a stalemate, even with the Princess' power as you know."

"Right…" Six was currently holding Gabriel in his hands, sitting on their couch. Next to him was Anatalia who gently stroked the wolf's pelt, Saria at her side. "When did this all happen?"

"About six days ago."

"Six days ago…?" Six days ago they were still in Siberas looking for Anatalia's sister. But that day specifically was the day he'd fallen unconscious. Was it a coincidence? Could he have blacked out because of it? It couldn't be, how could he feel the effects of a death curse a continent away?

"So currently I am at the behest of the Princess, she is requesting that you come to the capital to provide aid and support in turning the tide of the battle as it is." He shut his eyes, this was the tipping point over everything. That battle was where it all hinged. Either they would win and they would be able to drive back the Demon King, then from there they assault his castle and defeat him once and for all. Or there they would be defeated and the Demon King would have free reign to conquer everything as pleased. It wasn't a battle he could back down from. But it wasn't a battle he was prepared for either.

"I will help her, but I can't leave now. There are still things that I have to get ready if we're going to go and help turn this around."

"Then what should I tell the Princess?"  
"That I will come, and I will make sure that the battle is won. But until I do she needs to stay alive and keep them at bay, at least for two days?"

"I'm not sure if we'll be able to hold them for two days, but we will try what we can."

"Thank you," with that Rain teleported away.

"Aurdel, what are we going to do?" Yunyun asked.

"We're going to fight, and we're going to take down the Demon King. No matter what it takes. But before we do that we need to prepare."

"We'll do anything Aurdel, anything," she said determined, coming close.

"Yunyun, I need you to go to the Crimson Demon village. I want you to go around and rally everyone, find those willing to participate in a fight in a head on assault against the Demon King's forces." She nodded, "Megumin, you can go with her. It's probably best to see everyone there before anything happens." She nodded to that too. He looked over towards Darkness who was still with Sylphina, he wouldn't bother them now. "Aqua, as much as I don't want to do this, I need you to go to Alcanretia and see if you can rally your Axis Cult into a fight against the Demon King. Even if they're all a bunch of weirdos they still have a bunch of priests."

"Don't call my children weirdos!" She shouted back, but she still got his point.

"Six, Anatalia, I want you to rally the adventurers here and prepare them for a fight. Make sure you get Dust specifically, he'll have an important piece to attacking the Demon King's castle." Once he was done doling out everyone's jobs they went on their way, every piece was important in what would happen. After that there were only a few of them left in the mansion.

"I… I can't believe all of this happened," Wiz said, sitting down on one of the chairs. "It's all so awful. For so many innocents to die so needlessly is just cruel the party of the Demon King."  
"I suppose they call him the Demon King for a reason," he sat down next to her.

"I can't stand by anymore and allow this to continue. Aurdel, I"m going to help you fight the Demon King."

"But Wiz, aren't you a General?"

"I may be, but he told me that no innocents would die. That was clearly a lie to me, one that I won't forgive."

* * *

For the next two days, Aurdel worked tirelessly and without end. The work that he put in now was vital to the success of this next battle, one they could not be permitted to lose. The first thing that he did was mount the weapon that he'd taken from the Crimson Demon village and mount it onto the warthog he'd built from scratch. With the way it was mounted it could essentially be refilled with mana and used by even those not strong enough to lift it by themselves. He made sure to put extra plating on the vehicle and reinforced the glass, providing some extra cover for those driving and in the passenger seats. Unfortunately while he would have liked to essentially build a concealing box to fit around the weapon on the back, he didn't have the time to do so. He wouldn't bring the Warthog into this first battle, but when they fought at the castle then he would make sure to take it with them.

Next was their weapons. With more and better equipment available to him Aurdel was able to much better upgrade his sword, allowing it to become a truly honed high frequency blade that could cut through damn near anything. He would've done the same upgrades to Darkness' sword but knowing how well she hit she would probably end up killing herself and more allies than the enemies with it. But he also crafted a large amount of daggers, essentially providing Anatalia with a stockpile to use during the battle. Each one was carefully made to be as deadly as possible, with him even giving her a toxin he had to apply to the blades to more effectively kill with them. For Megumin and Yunyun's wand and staff, it took more time than the other weapons to upgrade. He didn't particularly understand how magic worked completely, but with a general few principles he learned through trial and error he was able to do it. He increased the effectiveness and efficiency of both their weapons, though really only Yunyun would see that as her magic didn't completely drain all of her mana with one use.

But it's not like he was only going to have them use their own weapons. No, he was coming fully prepared for this battle. After careful consideration he figured out what weapons he would be given them from his stockpile. For Anatalia he would be giving her an SRS, she was most likely to be the most effective at long range. For Yunyun he would be giving her a BR55, a well balanced rifle that could do an effective job at most ranges. Megumin would be getting an M319 Grenade Launcher for obvious reasons, though he would have to make sure she has enough mana to even stand up so she can use it after her Explosion. Darkness and Aqua wouldn't be getting anything for obvious reasons. He'd originally considered giving Darkness an M90 Shotgun, but gunning down allies en masse by accident wasn't on the top of his priority list. And Aqua? Well, Aqua was Aqua. She was an Archpriest and technically not supposed to fight, but it was more that he didn't trust her with anything more deadly than a pointy stick.

Besides that was their armor and clothing. With their measurements and spare sets of their gear, he was able to develop new gear for them. For starters, as much as Darkness prided herself on Adamantite being the toughest material around titanium was much stronger, so he'd essentially redone her armor with a titanium-ceramic composite that was typically used for the armor ODSTs wore. For Megumin, Yunyun and Wiz it was more of adding lightweight ballistic resistant materials to their clothes, making sure that it covered their body entirely and didn't leave any room for failure due to exposure. For Aqua he really wasn't able to do anything, as he found out that she somehow wore the same outfit every day and that was it. So because she wasn't there, and probably wouldn't be willing to take it off for him, he couldn't do anything. And for Anatalia added some armor to the areas of her outfit that covered her most vital areas, also making sure to provide some sort of camo to her gear for when she would begin to use the SRS.

But he also made what was essentially a battle harness for Everest, as she would be the toughest out of them all and bound to do the most damage but would be targeted by the most enemies as a result. Then there was the gear he'd made for himself. What he was going for was a specific kind of look, that of one similar to superheroes from the stories of old. It was a bold set of red, white and blue clothing with gold trim, layered on top of a set of the best armor he could make for himself. Looking in the mirror he found that he was missing something, something to complete the look. He draped a red cape around his shoulders, it was perfect now. While not exactly ideal for fighting in, he was using it for a greater purpose. Rain knocked on the door of the mansion, he opened it. From the entrance she was able to see them all geared up, ready for battle. She herself looked worried and unsure, probably because of how the battle itself was going. "Are you all ready?"

"We're ready," they responded. Sylphina and Saria would be staying with the guild administration while they were away, they didn't want to risk them on the battlefield.

"Teleport!"

**...Beginning of the End...**

With Rain's spell they appeared on the edge of the battlefield outside the capital. It was a horrific sight to behold. There was an untold amount of damage done due to all of the fighting, destruction existing all over. The sky was a fiery red and fires burned all over, the grass hills around the capital having mostly charred away since then and large craters dotting the area from the use of magic. The city itself has sustained some damage as well, as while everyone in it had died at once at the same time some fighting had occurred inside when the Demon King's army attempted to capture it. There were holes in the walls and smoke rising from several buildings inside it, from here he was even able to see the damage done to the royal palace. But most important was the army in front of them, the largest formation of troops assembled by the Demon King anyone had seen yet. Even without being up close he could tell the fighting was extremely fierce.

Judging from the lightning strikes he heard and saw off in the distance, deep in the enemy lines, he could tell where Iris was. She was more likely than not with Claire fighting against whoever was leading this army. Given the fact that Wiz was with them here and that they defeated every other Demon King general, that meant the one leading this army was the Demon King's daughter. She was said to be the strongest of all the Generals, which made him unsure as to how exactly that fight involving Iris would go. Regardless, he would win this battle. "Do all of you remember how to use the weapons I've given you?" They nodded. Megumin with one hand held her staff and the grenade launcher with her other, Yunyun slid her wand into the underbarrel position of her Battle Rifle and Anatalia pulled back the bolt on the Sniper Rifle. Meanwhile Wiz, Everest, Darkness, Aqua and Six stood ready. Since Rain would assist them in assaulting the lines that made ten one of them. Taking the fight to the Demon King would be no issue. "Then let's do this. Megumin, give them our opening gift!"

"You got it! Explosion!" Powered up by mana he'd given her she launched a powerful Explosion into the middle of the battlefield, obliterating a good amount of the enemy with a blast that rivaled a small nuclear weapon.

With that the fighting stopped, all looked up to face them. Aurdel transferred a small portion of mana to Megumin to make sure she could stand again. Then he stood tall, "Soldiers of humanity, the end of the Demon King and his army draws near! Today is the beginning of a new era! So attack your enemy and throw them back! Throw them into the depths of hell from which they came!" He thrust the sword he held in his right hand into the air, holding an M90 shotgun in his left hand. There was a thunderous cheer from the men on the field, the fighting began again. He charged straight down the hill with his party, the only person really able to keep up with him being Six. The troops at the bottom of the hill parted ways for them as they approached, allowing them to crash straight into and through the enemy lines. With his M90 Aurdel blew away easily over a dozen enemies with just a few rounds, Six taking down many with bursts of rounds from his MA37. When they ran out of ammo for their initial clips they switched to their close quarters weapons, Aurdel cleaving through groups of Undead and Demons as they charged through. Behind him he could hear the sounds of clashing steel, but over it the sound of gunfire from his comrades. Just as he expected they performed well. Anatalia picked her targets carefully and fired, making sure the round would overpenetrate the first target and hit whoever was behind them. She was a natural at it. Megumin seemed to be enjoying her grenade launcher too much, obliterating groups of enemies with 40mm grenades.

Yunyun cut through swathes of enemies, using Light of Saber while her want was still on the Battle Rifle and firing at the same time. Wiz froze large groups of enemies and dropped them into Bottomless Swamps, driving herself with the anger of all that had happened here at the capital. Darkness charged into the enemy lines and occupied the Demons and Undead that came her way, allowing Knights to attack them while they were preoccupied with her. Aqua purified all the Undead she could find, aside from Wiz due to specific instructions from with, and used God Blow on the Demons, there was a surprising amount of effort that she was putting in. But that effort was probably because her goal of going back to heaven was practically within sight and she didn't want to lose that. And finally, Everest tore through the lines. She stampeded through Demons and Undead more effectively than even he thought she would, crushing them beneath her talons and tearing them apart with her beak. Within a matter of moments they'd already turned the tide of this battle completely.

He and Six kept driving forward, the numbers of Demons and Undead unable to hold them back. "I'll go help the Princess, you go make sure the rest of these guys get dealt with."

"Got it sir," the two of them split up. Aurdel took a period of brevity to reload his shotgun, going back to blasting the Demons and Undead in front of him. No matter how powerful these enemies were or how strong magic was, nothing could stand up to a face full of buckshot. Eventually he closed in on Iris' and Claire's position, they now stood in the midst of a large amount of the Demon King's forces, going back and forth against the daughter of the Demon King.

"Sacred Lightning Blare!" Iris attempted to hit her with one of her skills, but it missed and instead wiped out a crowd of Demons and Undead that'd been behind her. Claire leapt towards the General and clashed blades, sparks flying between them and they fought one another.

"I heard you needed help, so I decided that I'd drop by."

"Aurdel!" Iris shouted, stopped to look at him. Claire looked at him at a moment before moving aside, allowing him to push his way forward into the fight against the Demon King's daughter. He towered over her and put pressure on her. While she was strong, she wasn't strong enough to hold him back. Her footing slipped and her sword began to crack, she attempted to recover by trying to hit him with a flurry of attacks. Each one came back into contact with his blade, being stopped by his completely rigid defense. Then with one solid and perfect strike he cut through her blade down the center, cutting all the way down to the handle. As she held the broken weapon dumbfounded he slapped her back with his left hand.

"Iris, hit me with your lightning!"

"Sacred Lightning Blare!" He used his sword to catch the lightning and arc'd it back towards the Demon King's daughter, getting a direct hit in and blowing her away through a crowd of her own forces.

"Protect the boss!" The enemies shouted, "The Demon King will have our head if she dies!" And they crowded around, creating a shield of bodies around her as she recovered from the strike. He, Iris and Claire charged forward and diced through the groups of enemies. But each time one fell about three more took their place in defending the Demon King's daughter. They had to have hacked through dozens of them by the time they finally managed to break through, but by the time they did she'd finished chanting a teleportation spell and left the battlefield. She was probably going back to Demon King's castle to gather another army. Fair enough, this one was about to be destroyed anyways.

"If only you'd shown up to the palace like this, then I wouldn't have wanted to throw you out," Claire said as she cut through another Demon.

"Things change. Besides, we can't always look one way," he pulled out a grenade pulled the pin using his teeth, tossing it into a group of Undead. They were blown apart in the ensuing blast. "So Princess, where is your father and brother?"

"They're alive and on their way back right now from another part of the frontlines. They're bringing all the troops they can with them here to reinforce the capital."

"I don't think that'll be enough," the two of them cut through a large beast together, toppling it to the ground below, "Do you think you can send someone that can get a message out to them?"

"Exertion!" She sliced straight through an armored enemy, "What kind of message?"

He blasted away another Demon with his shotgun, "One to all the other countries, to gather all of the forces they can muster. Tell them about what happened here and tell them about me. Tell them that I plan to attack the Demon King's castle."

"That's crazy!" She said, cutting down another enemy. "We might be winning now but that doesn't mean-"

"It's a do or die moment for both sides after what happened here. I've already enlisted the help of others, but the more that we can get the better it will be. "

Aurdel raised his sword, "Sacred Lightning Blare!" He caught the lightning and sent it down into a group of enemies, "I'll see about it, Claire?"

"Rain might be able to intercept the King and the Prince on the way back Your Highness, they might be able to get it done that way."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Sacred Explode!" Another large group was destroyed. By now the Demon King's forces had thinned dramatically, they were on the retreat now. But one couldn't simply defeat the enemy, they had to crush them entirely. Ruthlessly they pursued the hostile forces. Aurdel, Iris and Claire cut down everything in their path. Eventually his party members caught up with him and took part in finishing off the enemy army. When the last one was killed there was a cheer across the battlefield. This war was one step closer to being over.


	34. Chapter 34

**...Interlude...**

Rather than spend the night camping outside the capital, they would be reoccupying it. And though it took them many hours, clearing out and burying the dead, they would be able to finish it all before it became dark. At the same time he'd spent his time collecting the equipment from all the dead cheat users, if any overpowered tool that they'd had fell into the wrong hands it would be the cause of more trouble than it was worth. But with all of that done there was a general light hearted feeling amongst his extended party and all of those who'd fought in the battle today, celebration eventually taking over all. He and his party, along with the Princess, were in the royal palace's dining hall having what was essentially a feast. Aqua had gotten completely wasted so early on that she was now sleeping with her head down on the table, Claire and Darkness were both nearing the same point and looked like they would tip over at any point, Anatalia was given an all you can eat buffet a run for its money with Everest and the rest of them sat idly chit chatting at the table. "I'm not sure what to do now," Iris said, exasperated. "So much happened that everything in the country is barely holding together. Normally my dad or brother would be in charge of managing things, but because they're away I'm stuck with all of this."

"I can try and help with what I can."

"You would?"

"I may not be a politician or royalty-"

"You are a noble though."

"-Right, forgot about that, but my point is I don't have the experience of acting as head of state but I know enough to help manage things. I know for a start that a lot of power is either going to have to be devolved or centralized with what happened to the noble houses."

"Right, a lot of the heads of the houses have died and some were wiped out entirely."

"Can we talk about something a little less serious?" Megumin asked, "I think it'd be nice to talk about something a little more lighthearted."

"I suppose you're right, but what is there to talk about?"

"Maybe you can talk about what you'd wish for once we defeat the Demon King? Aqua said that once you defeat the Demon King you'd be given the chance to wish for any one thing."

"Hmm… You are right," she had said that to him before he'd dragged her to this world with him. Of course he'd never really given it thought because he never knew he'd be in the position he was in now, in fact when he'd first come to this world he'd never intended to fight the Demon King. But now here he stood in the royal palace of the capital, preparing for the final battle with the Demon King and his army. "I'm not sure, I've never really thought about what I'd wish for. I'm not even sure about what I want."

"Surely there's something you could ask for?" Iris asked.

"Probably, but I've never really thought about myself. It was always about fighting for others."

"Then maybe you'll wish for something for someone else," Yunyun said.

"Maybe… If not that, then maybe it'll just be me hoping for a peaceful and quiet life."

"I'm sure you can get that, even without a wish," Yunyun said. "But Aurdel. You won't leave us, right? You'll stay here with us?" Megumin gave him a look, as if she meant to ask him the same question.

"Well I certainly don't plan on leaving any time soon."

"Don't say it like that," she said with a slight frown, "Saying it like that is scary."

"Yeah," Megumin added, "When you say it like that it makes it sounds like you might end up leaving whether or not you like it, we don't want that to happen. You know how much you mean to all of us."

"Alright alright, I won't leave you guys. I promise."

Iris smiled, "It's nice to see that you have such great companions. Maybe once this is all over I can go adventuring too, and maybe I can join you."

"That's a tall order Princess, are you sure that they'll let you?"

"Once the Demon King is defeated then my father and brother will be back in the castle for longer periods of time, meaning that I don't have to stay and hold down the fort. Besides," she grinned, "If they don't want me to leave then I'll just leave by myself."

He sighed, "You know, I'd disapprove but that attitude was what saved your life."

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for anything. Besides, it's your life. So I suppose you're free to do whatever you want, no matter what anyone else around you says."

"Then I know for sure that when this is all over I'll go on an adventure, do whatever I want. Maybe I'll even have Claire and Rain come with me." They looked over towards Claire, who by now had become passed out drunk. The two of them had started out on the wrong foot when they first met but he could understand the attitude that she had. Her job protecting the Princess was a stressful duty, not to mention when events like this occurred that jumped several fold. Maybe when this was over they could sit down and talk, start again.

He turned back, "What about you two? What are you going to do once this is all over?"

"What are we going to do?" Megumin repeated, "I don't know about Yunyun, but I'm going to keep using Explosion every day until the day I die. I will become the world's master of Explosion no matter what it takes."

"Is there even anyone else that uses Explosion left besides you? You killed the person who taught you it, after all."

"Wiz knows Explosion."

"She does?"  
"Yeah, who do you think gave the final blow to the Mobile Fortress Destroyer after you removed the core? As much as I don't want to admit it, I wasn't able to do it because I'd already used my Explosion for the day at that point and you were in no shape to transfer me any mana." Huh, he'd never really thought about it. He supposed it made sense though. From what he'd heard Wiz used to be an extremely powerful Archwizard before she settled down and set up shop in Axel, so he could see her using a spell like that at some point.

"Okay then, what about you Yunyun? What are you going to do when this is over?"

"I-I'm not sure," she seemed a little shy about answering the question, he had a feeling as to why. "At some point I need to take the trials to officially set myself on becoming the chief of the Crimson Demons, so I'll probably do that. But…"

"But what?" Iris asked.

"I'm not sure if I want to say, it's embarrassing," she looked down with red cheeks.

Iris took one good look at her, then nodded with a grin on her face. It was if she knew exactly what Yunyun wanted to say, "That's understandable, I can see why."

"Okay then, what about you Anatalia? Do you have any plans?"

She stopped eating, "I'm going to try and give my sister as normal of a life I can, after everything that she's been through and that I partially put her through it's the least that I can do for her."

"That's not a bad plan, it would be good for her."

"But I might settle down too," she added, "My parents died a long time ago, and they produced no sons. Which means it's either up to me or my sister to have the family name carried on, and I don't want to place that burden upon my sister so early in her life."

"That… makes sense too. But wouldn't you take the name of your husband?"

She put her finger to her mouth and licked it, "Nothing says I have to take his name, nor do I have to be married in the first place. Either way my family name will live on." He granted her that, she did have a plan.

"And I don't suppose you have a plan, do you?" He said to Everest, who nuzzled her beak under his hand and onto his lap.

"Wherever master goes I will follow," he placed his hand on her head and stroked it, she cooed.

"As for them, I don't think we'll be getting much out of them," Aurdel said that while looking at Aqua and Darkness, "But I do think they have the right idea, we should all be getting some rest."

"Do we really have to go so early?" Megumin asked.

"Yes, you do. A wise man once told me that a soldier's greatest weapon is a good night's rest, and today was a tiring day." He stood up, "I'll take them back to their rooms, then I'm heading off to bed."

"Do you remember where all the rooms are?" Iris asked.

"How could I forget?" He said while picking up Aqua from her chair. He wiped the drool from her mouth with his sleeve as he pushed open the door, carrying her out of the room. She mumbled things as he walked down the hall with her in his arms. It was hard to believe that this woman was a Goddess, no less difficult was it for him to believe that he'd gotten used to having her around and didn't mind it, even if she was quite annoying sometimes,

"Hey,,, Aurdel…" She mumbled, stretching out her arms.

"Careful," he chided, "Move like that and you're going to make me drop you by accident."

"Sorry…" She yawned, "I just wanted to ask you something… do we really have to defeat the Demon King?"

"Weren't you the one that said you wanted someone to defeat the Demon King? Especially since you want to go back to heaven?"

"Yeah, but… I was thinking… Is it really that bad staying here? We're always enjoying ourselves even if we go through tough times… Maybe… Maybe I don't want to go back?" Even though she was drunk the way she spoke seemed to be quite genuine, something that rarely ever came out of her mouth. It shocked him, he didn't know what to really say to it. "I know you might say it's stupid but… I think it'd be better if we all stayed here together."

"I don't think you should worry about this right now, I don't think you're in any state of mind to make any big decisions right now. Just worry about getting some rest."

"Okay…" she said, again with a yawn. He dumped her onto the bed in her room, tucked her in and left to go get Darkness.

"To take advantage of a woman like me in such a state… You really are a sick man…"

"I'm not taking advantage of anyone, especially not of you." She was up to her usual tricks.

Compared to Aqua she was much heavier for obvious reasons, though it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. It was more the type of woman that she was that was the issue here. The way she kept moving around and putting herself in… compromising positions… was extremely indecent. "Look if you have so much energy to mess with me trying to do something then I'll just put you down and let you walk back to your room."

"To simply discard me like trash, you are a horrible man," she seemed to enjoy every moment.

"And you're absolutely hopeless." He went as quickly as he could, throwing open the door and tossing her onto the bed.

"W-wait, aren't you going to force me down and-?"

"No!" He slammed the door and walked back through the hall with a sigh, what exactly was it with that girl?

"A-Aurdel, can you help us carry Lady Claire? It's all three of us but I don't think we can carry her." Iris and the others were trying to carry Claire off to her room, and were struggling. So he walked over and, with one arm, picked her up.

"Which way is it?"

"That way…" And he led them all the way there, opening the door and laying Claire down. He completed what they'd set out to do easily.

"Anyways, I'm going to go to bed now," he started to walk down the hallway when Iris grabbed his arm, "What is it?"

"Rain isn't here and Claire is quite drunk, I need someone to stand guard as I sleep."

"I see… that's especially important now given everything that's happened. Alright, I'll do it."

"Thank you," she bowed her head and led the way.

"We'll stay with you," Yunyun and Megumin said while following him.

"You two really don't want to leave my side, do you?"

"Why should we?" Yunyun asked, "You mean a lot to us, Aurdel."

"Yeah, we'll stay by you no matter what," Megumin added, "And we want you to do the same."

A thought passed through his mind, something he'd heard before. He muttered silently, "Can't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just thinking to myself."

* * *

Night would turn to day quickly, an unfortunate fact with how long the days ahead of them would be. Luckily there were no attacks during the night, so they were able to sleep well without interruption. "We're back," Six said, teleporting back into the palace grounds with Wiz.

"How were things?" He asked. The two had gone out during the night to check on Axel and both the Crimson Demon village, wanting to see whether or not they were still standing and whether or not they were ready for the battle.

"The Crimson Demon village was fine, they're all ready for the fight. They even gave us this," Six handed him an item, "They said it's something called a barrier breaker, they found it some time ago while they were looking through the remains of Sylvia's camp. They assume that she was going to use it to open the "seal" that you unlocked, but regardless it's in our hands now since she's long dead."

"Right, we'll need to use it to get through the barrier around the castle," he pocketed the device. Even though they'd killed a good majority of the Generals the barrier was still up, as though Wiz was now fighting against the Demon King because she was still alive it was supporting the barrier. There was also the Demon King's daughter keeping up the barrier, though she was bound to be there when they attacked. "And how is Axel doing?"

"Axel is fine, all the adventurers there are gearing up for the fight too. There haven't been any attacks there either so they've been able to do it in peace. And Dust said he'd bring what you wanted, though I don't exactly know what that means."

"It's fine, I know what it means. Anything else?"

"Vanir surprisingly said he would be coming to participate too. I don't know why he had a change of heart, but I'm glad!" Wiz said. Yes, that was odd… From his understanding Devils didn't do anything unless they would get something out of it. So what was Vanir planning to gain from this? KIlling his ex-boss doesn't grant him anything, nor would it probably grant him the finances he needs to support the building of his dungeon. It was something he'd have to keep in the back of his mind. Then again, it was possible he had an idea of what it was.

"We also picked up a few people on our way back," Six motion to his and Wiz's back.

"Komekko?!"

"Saria?!"  
"Sylphina?!"

"Yeah, those three." All three of them had come along on the way out. "The first hitched a ride on my leg when we were teleporting out of the village, the other two were given to us by the guild. The guild also apparently chipped in to power level those two, because they have cards now and have their levels in the teens."

"Seriously?" The two girls extended out their hands with the cards. Yeah, they were in the teens. Just how much had the guild spent to do that? He'd have to find out so he could pay them back.

"And apparently this little rugrat has something to give to you," Komekko jumped off of Six's back with a bag in hand, the sound of clinking glass could be heard from inside.

"Here onii-chan!" She thrust a bag into his hands, opening it so he could see inside.

"Are those… skill up potions?" Megumin asked.

"Yep! Onii-chan has to be really strong for big sister!"

"That's great, but how did you get these? The only place they stockpile them like this is at the school!"

"I broke in!" She exclaimed proudly.

"How?!"

"Remember when onii-chan was asleep? I took one of those green things he had and held on to it, I used it to blow up the door!" There was no end to her enthusiasm, but there was also no end to the shock on their faces.

"I… I should probably keep a better track of my equipment," he sighed. "Do you have any more of them?"

"Of course I do, they're all at home!"

"Please give them back…"

"No can do, I like them too much!" He looked at Megumin, she shrugged. It seemed having a fascination for explosives would run in the family now. "I even used a few potions to get my skills up, I learned some magic! Watch! Detonation!" Thankfully they were outside when she let it off, as it only ended up blowing up a tree rather than something important in the palace. "How was that?!"

"T-that was great, but you should probably use it somewhere else," Megumin said, panickedly going to her sister to make sure she didn't do it again. "Aurdel, what are you going to do with those potions?"

He scratched his non-existent beard, something he'd been meaning to grow out. "Megumin, how many points does it take to learn Explosion?"

"Fifty, why…?"

"And Yunyun, how much does much Advanced Magic cost?"

"Thirty skill points."

"Bind?"

"It'd just be two points," Anatalia said.

He scratched his chin again, "Hey Aqua, show me your God Blo-"

Without hesitation she slammed her fist into him, "God Blow!"

"You could have at least let me finish my sentence!" He nursed his face

"Aurdel, what is this all about?"

"Well," he said while standing up, "It just so happens that I've raised levels quite a bit, and as a result I have quite the stockpile of skill points. So between those and this pile of potions, why not learn a few things?"

* * *

**AN: Apologies for the shorter than usual chapter, but next will be the assault on the Demon King's castle**


	35. Chapter 35 - Finale

**...This is the Way the World Ends…**

The arduous trek took nearly three days, all carriages going from city to city were out of service. He had his warthog of course but with the terrain they had to go through it didn't help much. With him was all of his party, the recent temporary additions, Claire, Iris and a contingent of Knights. The other forces hadn't arrived yet but the fact was irrelevant, they would have to assault the Demon King's castle. "Aurdel, are you absolutely sure that this is the only way to do this?" Yunyun asked, extreme worry and nervousness in her voice.

"Out of the ways I'm sure of? Absolutely. This plan is the only one that poses the least risk to all of you, I'm the only one in danger if it fails."

"T-that doesn't make it right!"

He put a hand on her shoulder, "Right and necessary aren't the same thing, I've learned that lesson far too many times. And this is necessary no matter what. The Demon King must fall, and this is the way to do it."

Aurdel climbed into the Warthog and sat down in the driver's seat, taking everything in for a moment. The reason he was going alone to destroy the barrier with the barrier breaker was because he didn't want to risk the lives of anyone else. If he died, then so be it. But if anything happened to the others? He wouldn't forgive himself. This would at least give them a chance to get away if he failed. Underneath his armor and clothes he padded his body with several layers of material, something important he could use if things really came down to the wire. He was ready to die. He turned on the engine and strapped himself in. Because he was making this charge he dismounted the gun from the back of the hog, they'd be able to use it if anything happened. He closed his eyes and prepared himself, grabbing his helmet from the passenger seat with his hand free from the steering wheel. "A-Aurdel!" Yunyun ran over to the driver's side of the Warthog at the last moment.

"What is it-?" She jumped up to wrap her in his arms, giving him a kiss on the cheek with tears in her eyes.

"Please, make it back." After a moment she let go. He knew what he'd said about promises, what other people had said. But…

"I'll make it back," he slid the helmet onto his head and looked out at the hillside in front of them and towards the Demon King's castle off in the distance, All he had to do was cross that large distance in a short amount of time and touch the barrier with the barrier breaker. He closed his eyes one last time, then opened them again. Go, a voice in the back of his head said. He stepped on the pedal and the Warthog blazed off from the hillside they'd stood upon and in the direction of the Demon King's castle. Because he was going downhill he was going to use this opportunity to gain speed, to make the journey as quickly as possible. The air around the warthog broke as it flew down the hillside. He was on flat grass now, going over a hundred miles an hour. Normally this vehicle wasn't meant for speeds like this but he'd set it up so it'd weather the storm. He began crossing the large stretch of land between the castle and the hillside.

That was when something bad happened.

A large mote of magical energy formed at one of the spires on the Demon King's castle, then it shot out and fired towards him. Barely missing him it struck the grass the Warthog had just been in, completely obliterating it with immense power. What the hell was this? He hadn't heard of this! Was it some kind of super weapon? Some extremely powerful guard singularly standing at the spire to throw him down. Regardless, it wasn't good for him. Another blast rang out, striking near to his left and throwing a cloud of dirt and dust into his face. Because of the helmet it didn't necessarily phase as it would have, but it certainly presented a problem. Even from here he could tell that his companions weren't exactly thrilled with him taking the risk of his life here. Blast and blast of magic came his way. Damnit, this wasn't good. It would have been wrong of him to assume that there wouldn't be anyone guarding the castle, and he hadn't, but he hadn't expected anything like this. This was different. He swerved the Warthog towards the left, the blast landed at his right. He could already imagine what the others were saying but he had no choice except to press on.

If he turned back now he was throwing away their chance to take down the Demon King once and for all, any element of surprise in the assault would be lost and the next time they tried it they would be completely wiped out. But besides that was the fact that if he did try to turn back he would lose too much speed, and he would be hit. Given what he had padded underneath his armor he didn't want that to happen, at least not yet. So he would just keep going. His foot sat on the gas pedal, pressing it to the floor with the engine he'd built roaring. Consecutive blasts were ringing out and striking the area all around him, blazing past and leaving craters. The field began to catch fire from the detonations and it burned brightly as he pressed on. Avoiding the blasts was the most he could do for now. Then he ramped off of a hill, flying through the air. A blast out and struck the very bottom of the Warthog, he could tell the rear tires were seared by it.

When the Warthog hit the ground the rear tires exploded, jolting him forward. He had to keep going. Scraping along he kept his foot on the gas. He swerved to the right, a blast came from the left and blew off the mirror and plating from that side. He swerved again to the opposite direction, the right side was blown apart. He ducked, a blast tore through the windshield and destroyed the very top of the Warthog. His ears were ringing in the few moments he had afterwards. Then an abnormal amount of time passed before the next shot, he had no idea when or where it would fire. Then it did. It was a direct hit towards the front of the Warthog, the engine block he'd so painstakingly made was completely obliterated. The vehicle was launched forward with the rear going over the front, his head slamming into the steering wheel and giving him a minor headache. Then it landed back on the ground, and his head hit the seat rest. The hog was completely totalled, unusable until he found time after this battle to fix it.

"Go." The voice in the back of his head was back, pushing him. "Go, they're counting on you. You told them that you'd make it back, so go. Don't let them down." He opened his eyes and undid the seatbelt, falling to the ground beneath the Warthog. He used freeze to put out the smoldering grass around him, then took it all in for a moment. Then after that he grabbed from the barrier breaker from the glove box and clutched it to his chest. Crouched down he flipped the Warthog back over to face the castle, he could at least use it as a temporary distraction. He gave it a heave and rolled it forward as he stayed close to the ground to avoid being seen at least for now. The next blast came soon after and torched the warthog, that was when his full out sprint began. In theory he was very capable of running much faster than the Warthog, all the Spartans were, but pushing himself past those limits he had wasn't easy nor was it safe. The last time he'd done something like that was at the fight with Beldia. And he'd wanted to save that energy and vigor for the actual fight, but he had no choice.

His legs moved like a blur across the field as he ran towards the castle, the explosions continuing. One blast came at him, he sidestepped it and it detonated behind him. He reached higher and higher speeds, he could feel the stress on his legs growing with every passing moment. Two more blasts came almost simultaneously, he barely managed to avoid. He could feel them as he ran, the heat washing over his back. A few more moments passed and he could feel his Achilles tendon tearing, it was unsustainable. But he pushed through. The next blast that came from him was one he could avoid, it went straight for him. "Wind Curtain!" He used the Advanced Magic he'd been taught to redirect the blast away from himself, using it to also give a slight boost to his speed as he ran. It exploded above him, the sparks flying down. He was almost there now.

The last hurdle he had to face before he was able to physically reach the barrier was the rock face that the Demon King's castle was built on. He was moving too quickly to be able to stop fast enough and get into a climbing ready position on the wall, nor could he move quickly enough to avoid being blasted while he was on the wall. But then he had an idea. "Tornado!" He cast the spell in front of himself and ran straight into the tornado he'd made, using it to propel himself into the air and go soaring over the rock face. He was able to see where the blasts were coming from now given the elevation, a spire atop the castle. He narrowly avoided being hit mid-air as he came down, rolling onto the ground to avoid completely breaking his legs. He had to take a breath before he sat up, he'd tired himself out relatively quickly. But then he stood up and took the barrier breaker.

He approached the semi-translucent barrier that surrounded the castle, one was able to peer through and see what it looks like but was unable to pass through. Time to put an end to that. He pressed the barrier breaker against the barrier and both began to glow. All around where he placed it cracks began to form and spread out, reaching higher and higher into the massive barrier. A minute passed, then it shattered. LIke glass it fell apart with a shimmer, clattering towards the ground before disappearing. Immediately after he heard the sound of the weapon he'd dismounted firing. He didn't need to look to see what it'd hit. He heard the sound of crumbling stone from outside, the spire had been struck. A few seconds later the whole thing came crashing down and smashed to pieces on the inside of the Demon King's castle. As soon as he could he began chanting teleportation magic and pulled the Battle Rifle off his back, opening fire as Undead and Demons began to file out to attack.

Luckily he wouldn't have to fight long as by the time he'd gunned down the first wave of bodies coming towards him he'd finished chanting the magic, "Teleport!" With that he appeared back at the top of the large hill where he'd started. And immediately, he was ambushed by his crying companions. "It's fine, it's fine. I'm here." He could understand their worry, it'd looked very much likely to them that he'd died when the Warthog was struck by the magic from the castle. He looked over, he could see smoke rising from where the spire had stood. But there was also a large army of Demons and Undead coming out from the castle.

"Aurdel," Iris said from behind the small circle of sobbing around him, "The others arrived while you were performing your run, they saw it. They're all here." And he looked out towards them all. There were hundreds… No, thousands of people here. It was quite possibly the largest combined army the world had ever seen of real people. There were professional Knights and mages from a large variety of nations, each one sporting their nations color and coat of arms. Foremost was those of the Kingdom of Belzerg, and at the helm of that army was quite obviously the King and the Prince. And like he'd asked Aqua, there was a small army of Axis cultists too. Not all of them looked like they were Priests but it was what it was, they were all extremely fanatical and most likely prepared to die for their Goddess. But then there was all the adventurers. He could see every face that he recognized from his guild and more, with large groups of people from other guilds scattered around the country. But the one that stood out among them the most was Dust, sitting atop the Dragon that he'd tamed some time ago.

"We're with you, all the way."

* * *

"Spartan."

"Yes Colonel?"

Colonel Menteith put a hand on his shoulder, "There's one more thing that I want you to do, before you leave."  
"And what's that sir?"

"Follow me son," the old Colonel led him out of the HQ and towards the staging area, "I want you to hear something before you leave, something important." He followed him through the base. "Do you know about hope son?"

"I know what it means sir, driving yourself keep going every day despite the losses because you know that it will get better."

"Good," the Colonel patted him on the back, "But you know what's true about our soldiers, don't you?"

"That not everyone has hope, not everyone can work themselves up into that state to keep going," the Colonel's eyes softened after his answer.

"Right, and I think that I know that better than most after all I've been through with my boys," he waved his hand out towards all of the men standing in the staging area. "They've all served the time, more than enough. They've seen their battles, their blood spilled, but they keep going. Do you know why?" He paused, "It's because there needs to be someone to give them hope, the hope to keep going. That's what I've done for them, and that's what I want you to be. This war will be won by people like you, so don't let me down."

"Yes sir."

* * *

He remembered the conversation, he remembered the Colonel's words. He wouldn't let him down. He stepped out in view of all those who were gathered. "Aqua, make sure they can all hear me."

"Versatile Entertainer!" She cast a support spell on him that would allow him to project his voice out much further.

"Let no one here question our place in history. That we are all gathered here right now, at this point in time, is not a coincidence or accident. It is our fate. And this war is our birthright, our legacy. You were all born to fight the Demon King, and you, my fellow soldiers, were born for this very day. Today the enemy will hear the roar of humanity, and they will fear us!" His voice thundered outwards, it was heard by all there were. After a very brief moment, there was a thunderous battlecry back to him.

"Down with the Demon King, the Demon King will fall!"

"Down with the Demon King, the Demon King will fall!" And so began the stampede, after healing his leg he charged down the hill and led the way towards the Demon King's castle, preparing to fight the army in front of them. It was an army of Demons, Devils and Undead comparable to their own, if not larger. Leading the army was the daughter of the Demon King, her who bruised after the last battle and seeking a crushing and ultimate victory over their forces. But where she and her father hoped for victory in numbers, he would only show them defeat in overwhelming force. He had his sword drawn in one hand, a large shield on the other. The two armies crashed together. Aurdel swung straight into battle with all of the others, cutting a group of Demons and Undead in half.

He would have had Megumin open up with her Explosion, but because he wanted her to save it until the Demon King came out he'd given her another weapon. After having Aqua buff her enough to be able to carry it he'd given her an M41 Rocket Launcher and the rockets to use it. He could hear the chaos from here as she unloaded into all the enemies she found in her path. Yunyun powered through groups of Undead and Demons with her magic, fighting alongside the other Crimson Demons that were absolutely demolishing them. There were explosions, lightning, tornadoes, wall of fire and all other matters of magic going off, carving a path of destruction. They were definitely the largest of the threats presented to the Demon King's army here. Wiz herself would be a close second to that title. After seeing how kind she was and comparing her to his wife, Clementine, he… He really couldn't describe how it looked. He was freezing and annihilating vast parts of the enemy army just by herself, it's no wonder she'd been considered one of the best Archwizards in the country.

Aqua and her cultists meanwhile assaulted the Demons and Undead relentlessly with holy water, soaps and purification magic, exercising then en masse. It was actually almost scary how effectively and how vigorously they were doing it, something he never thought he would have said before but now found himself saying exactly that. Iris fought alongside her brother, father along with Claire and Iris, each one of them immensely powerful in their own right. Iris and her family especially caused large amounts of damage to the enemy army, they all seemed to have those same extremely powerful abilities. "Sacred Lightning Blare!" They even fired some of them off in sync, obliterating in a huge singular attack. It was hard to believe that this country needed heroes like him with rulers like those. Anatalia attacked, her fur turned red, with some of her own people, binding and tearing through those that they encountered. They too were almost scary with how effectively they worked, despite how nice they could look. Darkness, Six and Everest were all leading and supporting the professional soldiers and Knights, leading them into the battle.

While Darkness couldn't really hit anything, Six and Everest were hyper-lethal in their fighting. The former simply charged through large groups of enemies, gunning them down with Assault Rifle in hand and constantly switching out mags. It was hard to believe a Spartan like him could have died on Reach. But then again, so had he. He was in no real place to judge. Everest meanwhile was quite literally charging through groups of enemies, bashing them, tearing them apart with her beak and slashing them with her talons. She even occasionally picked them up and threw them across the battlefield, essentially creating a bowling bowl effect against anyone who was behind them and knocking them down. Dust in the meanwhile was leading the adventurers of Axel and any others who were willing to follow him off the back of the Dragon he'd tamed, performing strafing runs on the enemy army with clouds of fire and burning them alive. And if he wasn't doing that then he was making the Dragon land to blow the enemies away with it's ridiculous wing and tail strength, sending them flying after those blows.

He himself performed admirably, he- "Muhahaha! Did thou really forget about moi?" Yes, actually, he'd entirely forgotten about Vanir. Wiz, like Vanir had said previously, decided to join the battle against the Demon King. Why exactly he'd chosen to do so was a mystery to all of them, he wouldn't gain anything in particular by doing so. But he fought anyway. He summoned his own mini army of explosive dirt dolls, driving them into the enemy line and causing them to explode. The whole battlefield was filled with a general air of chaos as the battle raged on. Aurdel sliced through hordes of Demons and even a few Devils, the royal family and Wiz obliterated swathes of enemies alongside the large beasts like Ogres, Aqua and her cult wiped out unholy creatures, Everest and Six kept the lines steady and Anatalia brought an unseen ferocity.

"Damn you!" A woman's voice screamed out towards him, "You just had to go out and ruin everything my father had been working towards!"

He turned and the woman slashed straight at him, he raised his shield to block the blow. The woman was the Demon King's daughter, the last of his alive loyal Generals. She was young and beautiful, strong too. Unfortunately she was on the wrong side of this conflict and didn't show any signs of seeing what was wrong with what her father was doing to the world. She kept coming at him with her greatsword, slashing again and again from every angle that she could find. She was certainly strong like the other Generals he'd faced, Beldia especially came to mind given the sword. But even so she wasn't in any position to really challenge him, he'd surpassed those bars long ago after the encounter with _that man_. He still didn't even know that man's name. And even though he'd tried to kill him, he'd still done him a great service with the power that he seemed to give him.

Aurdel struck straight back at the Demon King's daughter, pressuring her with his weapon. Every whack that he took threw her off balance more and more and was pushing her through her own forces. It even got to the point that the only thing between her and that blade hitting her or her weapon was the enemies that got in its way, preventing him from landing the blow. And he could feel the fear starting to overtake her. When she'd first approached and attacked him she was full of anger and hatred, filled with the desire and drive to kill him no matter what it took. But it's not like he needed some special power to read that, he could see that all in her eyes. Her eyes were trembling now as she constantly took step back after step back, her hands holding the sword even beginning to tremble as she tried to throw back his attacks.

Slowly but surely he kept pushing her back, her guard breaking several times but quickly reforming soon after. A crack then suddenly appeared in the blade of her sword, her expression had panic now. The next time he swung and she used her blade to meet him, the sword shattered. Bits of metal flew in both directions, embedding into their clothing and any exposed sections of skin on their body. She shook as she now only held the hilt of the destroyed weapon in her hands. Out of nowhere immense confidence filled her and she charged straight for him, attacking him with punches and kicks as quickly as she could. Most missed, the ones that didn't ended up striking his chest though to little effect. Even with her strength she wasn't able to really present any serious threat to him, nor could most of the enemies here. So he took hold of her with one arm, clamping down and causing her to squirm in an attempt to break his grip. Then he speared his sword through her abdomen. The life left her eyes and she went limp.

But the words of another man came to mind: Aurdel killed his enemy, but he did not hate them. After removing the sword from her body he gently laid her to the ground, closing her eyes and folding her arms onto her lap. A second passed before he went back to battle. Switching to his M90 he blasted Demons and Undead apart, anything that came in his way. His mission here was to kill the Demon King and to save the world, he couldn't let anything get in his way of doing that. But in his mind he felt like there was something off, something bad coming his way. That feeling was justified. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see a large charging figure, one as tall as him if not taller. It was the Demon King. He cleared a path through his own men and the enemy, killing anything that didn't move out of the way for him. In his hands was a massive greatsword, a large claymore to be more accurate. To wield a blade that looked to be about twelve feet long meant he had immense arm strength, that fact was no less evident given that he was carrying it with just one arm.

The Demon King charged straight for Aurdel at immense speeds, those comparable to his own. Anything that came in his way was obliterated. Aurdel quickly switched back to his sword and shield, preparing himself as the Demon King took a wide swing towards him and then blocking it with his own sword. The pressure he felt on his arms was immense, but he was able to hold it off. "Do you know what I'm sick of?" the Demon King asked, "I'm sick of you heroes." He brought his free hand down in the form of a hammer fist, aiming for Aurdel but being stopped by his shield. Sparks flew from that alone as he applied further pressure, he could feel it in his spine. "I'm sick of all the moral grandstanding that you busybodies come here with, one after another, thinking that you know what's right for the world. Do you know why I think that?" He brought his fist and sword down again, slamming on Aurdel, "Because I was one of them, I was one of those suckers that she sent here. Now look at me."

"Sounds hypocritical to me," Aurdel grit through his teeth, throwing him back with a push kick. "You're the reason we get sent here now, you're part of the problem."

"Sure I am, but who's is the one that chose to fight my armies? Who is the one that chose to kill my Generals? And who is the one that chose to attack my castle and kill my daughter? Tell me." There was pain behind that last one, Aurdel didn't answer. Instead he threw his own series of strikes, each one being blocked by the Demon King with his massive blade. Clearly he wasn't impressed with Aurdel's efforts. "You don't need to answer the question, since we both know the answer." He threw down his sword and charged at Aurdel again, this time instead of trying to slam him he grabbing Aurdel sword and shield, shattering them in an iron that they were forced to physically brawl with each other. Aurdel threw another kick before attempting to cover and advance, only to be stopped by the Demon King staying completely still. Like a mountain he was unmoving and offered no quarter. "You can fight, but so can I." The Demon King threw several knees, driving them into Aurdel's stomach and chest causing him to release the grip on the back of his neck.

Aurdel stumbled back into a ready position, "Before you leave this world I'll make sure to show you what hell is like, hero." The Demon King charged at him again, throwing several hooks and straight punches Aurdel's way. He was able to block most but ended up being struck several times on his left shoulder. Aurdel then attacked him, driving several strikes into the man's gut. He then threw an elbow and a hammer fist to the Demon King's face, his nose now bleeding. "You're strong, but," he advanced on Aurdel and dealt a series of strikes, hammering his helmet over and over. Eventually the helmet went flying off, "But you're nothing but a man, a man dressed like he knows what he's doing."

"And what's wrong with that?" Aurdel charged back in, the two large men grappling with each other. The ground underneath their feet cracked and wind flew out as they fought.

Those around them were blown away from the force of their fighting, unable to get anywhere near them. Then the Demon King pulled out a dagger, attempting to stab it into Aurdel. Because of how thick his armor was he wasn't able to get through to any of his more vital organs, so instead he went for Aurdel's arms. He stabbed deep into Aurdel's left arm repeatedly, drawing blood. He forced him to back off. "I know you'd fight dirty, so I do the same."

"You're damn right I do," Aurdel pulled out his M90. Then he opened fire, blasting towards the Demon King who'd begun to run to avoid the shots. He was able to avoid a few but eight hit him, the pellets tearing through his armor.

"That was good, but you're mistaken if you think something as little as that is going to take me down." Aurdel watched as the holes that he'd shot into the Demon King's armor repaired themselves, it was like he hadn't put a scratch on him. "This armor is cursed, something like that won't do you any good."

The Demon King charged straight for him again, he tackled Aurdel. When he hit the ground there was impact from the force, Aurdel raised his hands to defend as the Demon King began to pound him. Each time he hit it was like being hit full force by a truck, if it weren't for his augmentations and his armor then his bones were sure to have broken much earlier on in the fight. But Aurdel managed to grab hold on the Demon King's right arm, swiping it to his right and managing to throw him off. Aurdel got up as quickly as he could, driving a fist into the man's face and then planting a boot on his stomach. The Demon King grabbed his leg and threw him off, Aurdel skidding across the ground. But Aurdel stood up and looked around. They were all in position. "You will die here, then so will everyone else. I will put an end to this endless war."

"No, no you won't." The Demon King charged at Aurdel one last time, raising both fists in preparation to hammer him into the ground.

"S-such strength~!" When the Demon King did bring both his fists down he found them stopped in their tracks, both Aurdel and Darkness had negated his blows. Darkness fell backwards holding herself, mostly in pleasure. But it gave another opening. Everest leaped in and the two of them struck the Demon King together, throwing him back with strong uppercuts.

Then came Aqua, "God Blow!" Together they punched the Demon King straight in the face. That time they'd done serious damage to the Demon King. He stumbled and had trouble trying to stay standing up.

"Sacred Lightning Blare!" Iris, her family and Aurdel let out a massive combined blast, Iris having managed to teach him the skill before all this battle had gone down.

Anatalia leapt forward, "Bind!" The two of them locked the Demon King up with some of the strongest rope this world had ever seen, ones he'd spent his time making.

"Cursed Crystal Prison!" Wiz stepped forward and the two of them let out blasts of magic, encasing the Demon King in a mountain of ice.

"Light of Saber!" He and Yunyun worked together to make a singular and powerful spell, cutting clean through the center of the ice and downwards. Dust kicked up as it went through and hit the ground. There was only one person left.

"Megumin, let's do this," and she stepped forward. "Darkness blacker than blacker, darker than dark, I beseech thee! Lend me your power in this very moment, lend me that which will strike down even the strongest of foes! Take the form of an intangible distortion and burst forth! Explosion!" And together they let out the largest Explosion this world had ever seen, blasting the ice mountain that encased the Demon King.

A mushroom like cloud formed in the air above it, a practical dust storm formed from their action alone. And most of those who hadn't planted themself firmly and behind cover were blown away by the sheer winds that it produced. But eventually it all began to clear and they were able to start seeing the battlefield again. "Did… Did we get him?" Megumin asked, coughing from all of the dust."

There were cheers all around him, from the Knights and adventurers. "Hurrah! The Demon King is-!" A Knight began to shout, before a sword flew out of the remaining cloud of dust. He fell skewed to the ground. The chanting stopped and everyone looked to the cloud of dust.

"No way…" Yunyun muttered, watching it.

"That was strong, but that's still not enough," the Demon King shouted. His armor was torn to bits and he was bleeding all over from the attacks they'd thrown at him, but his armor just reformed. It looked like it even began to integrate with his body, growing into the wounds.

"How… How are we supposed to defeat someone like that?!" Iris cried, even the Prince and the King was despairing at it. Everyone looked at the Demon King in fear, how could they defeat someone like that?

"I've spent thousands of years in that castle, preparing for the day like this. Did you really think that I would allow myself to be defeated?" He charged towards Iris and her family, "I'll kill you all and then this kingdom will fall!" They prepared to fight him but Aurdel tackled the Demon King, grabbing him and forcing him to stop.

"Run! All of you!" None of them wanted to leave him. Not here, not now. "I said run, the only one who can do anything now is me!" The Demon King elbowed his face hard and repeatedly, but Aurdel was able to tough through it.

Hesitantly the other began to run, the battlefield beginning to clear. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The Demon King shouted at him, "Do you think you're going to defeat me?! Do you think you'll win this battle?! Do you think you'll live like some hero?!" He watched as the most hesitant of them all left, those being his party. There were tears in all of their eyes, even Aqua. But to her it looked like the reality of what was about to happen was most clear. That Goddess…

"No, I won't live like a hero. I won't win this battle either. But they will, and I will kill you." He drove the Demon King forward, breaking that immeasurable force he fought before. The ground shook underneath them and they fought each other. Eventually Aurdel managed to land a hit, one that sent the Demon King flying backwards and into one of the walls of the castle. He blew straight through, the stone around the hole crumbling.

Aurdel leapt through to follow him. The halls were dark before, but with the holes he'd just put in to this castle there was vast amounts of light shining in. He practically flew through with how quickly he was moving, rolling onto the ground and up into a fighting stance. He found the Demon King on the ground, stumbling and holding his head as he then stood up. "You're insane, you're dying for a world that isn't your own. For a cause that isn't your own. You have nothing here, you have no reason to fight for any of those people."

"No, you're wrong. And if you haven't realized that fact then you were always wrong, you never really defeated the Demon King that came before you." Aurdel sprinted forward and drove his fists into the Demon King's chestplate, each one hitting with more immense force than the last. "I had things in my last life, so do I have here." He slammed hooked his right fist across the Demon King's face, then his left and switched again and again and again. "I have a home, I have friends, I have family, I have everything that I need!"

And he threw the Demon King back again, smashing through another wall. But this time the Demon King got up quicker and attacked Aurdel, "You have those things, but ask yourself if you truly care for them!" He drove his fists into Aurdel's gut, striking over and over. Aurdel coughed up blood with every strike. His clothes were torn and his armor was beginning to break. "Do your companions really care for you, or do they care for your power?!" The Demon King grabbed him by his throat and threw him into a table, crushing it and sliding across the floor. "Do they care for your money?!" He picked up the fallen chandelier and tossed it at Aurdel, Aurdel rolling to avoid it from hitting him. "Or do they only care about your power?!" There was the most vigor in that shout as the Demon King picked up a battle axe and threw it, embedding itself into Aurdel's chest. Aurdel fell back against the wall. "I'll tell you what it is, it's all of those things. That's what it was for me, that's what it is for you!" He ran to Aurdel and stomped on his left hand that lay on the ground, the armor shattering and his bones breaking.

"They use you, they use you for their own ends and they toss you away like trash!" The Demon King stomped on his left leg, breaking it too. "And I know that because it happened to me, and I don't want that to happen to anyone else!" He kicked Aurdel in the chin, forcing his head and neck up nearly snapping.

"So what, you'll kill any hero that comes to kill you?" He spit out, blood dripping out of his mouth.

"I'll kill anyone that stands in my way!" And he kicked Aurdel in the chest, Aurdel spit out a tooth and more blood. But then he began to laugh. "What is so funny?!"

"You said that you'll show me what hell looks like… but I don't think you've ever seen it for yourself…"There was a wide grin on Aurdel's face, his eyes filled with strength, "So why don't I give you an education?!" Aurdel sprung up from the wall, the axe still lodged in him, with his right leg and grabbed the threat of the Demon King. He began to choke him. "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN TO SEE WHAT HELL IS LIKE!" And he slammed backwards, throwing him into the throne that stood at the center of the room.

One of the plates that made up Aurdel's armor fell off, the padding underneath was revealed. "What in God's name is that?!" The Demon King shouted, raising a finger to point at him.

"That, my friend, is C-12, one of the most deadly explosives known to man. A small four by four by four inch cube is enough to level a five story in mere seconds. And this, what I'm wearing under my armor, is a full body suit of the stuff. All that I'm wearing is enough to level half of a small mountain, take a guess what it'll do to you!" And the Demon King was frozen with fear, falling back into his chair. Aurdel pulled out the axe from his chest.

"D-don't! You wouldn't dare do this! You wouldn't throw away your life!"

"Throw away my life? Who decided that's what it was? I've died for my causes once before, and I'm willing to die for them again." He closed his eyes and he mentally prepared himself to push the trigger, "Now, are you?"

Yunyun and everyone else was watching the fight take place in the castle from afar, the impacts of their fighting could even be seen from outside. The entire area shook as parts of the castle fell apart and hit the ground. The one thing that she hoped, the one thing that everyone hoped, was that he would win, and that he walked out alive. There were too many things that she wanted to say, too many things that she wanted to do. She couldn't bear the thought of-

The area was rocked by a huge explosion, one comparable to what Megumin and Aurdel had cast earlier. But this time it came from the castle. She watched as the entire castle was blown outwards from the inside, huge chunks of stone and even entire sections going flying from where they'd been placed. They had to shield their eyes as all the dust and debris came flying through the air.

When the dust and debris cleared they could see that the entire castle was blown apart, only rubble sat where it once stood. But that meant... "Aurdel!" She shouted. With tears in her eyes she ran back towards the ruins of the castle, looking for him. Everyone else came with her.

"I'm using Enemy Detection, but I don't see him," Anatalia said, searching worriedly. Aqua looked somber, as if she believed he was dead. She couldn't believe that.

"P-please…! Keep looking!" They kept searching around, going through whatever rubble they could. That was when they heard a hand burst out of the stone, "Aurdel?!" But when she looked over it wasn't him who was bursting out of the stone. It was… "No… no way…" The Demon King. He crawled out from under the stone, his armor completely destroyed.

"Yunyun! Wait!" Darkness shouted as she ran towards him.

"Where is he?!" She shouted, grabbing him and shaking him, "Where is Aurdel?!"

The Demon King let out a gasp, "He was right… He did die… But he did kill me…" And the Demon King fell to dust in her hands. She fell to her knees, trembling.

"He… he can't... " She struggled to say it. But she didn't have to. She felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Aqua. And the look on her face… her face… Her heart broke in two. "Aurdel!" She wailed, slamming his fists on the ground. How could this happen?! Why to them?! Why to him?! Why did things have to be this way?!

* * *

"Long time no see, Eris."

"Long time no see, Aurdel," Eris looked extremely somber. "You've completed your quest, you've defeated the Demon King. You left the world a far better place than it was when you came, paying the ultimate sacrifice to do so."

"And my companions?"

"Your companions… Your companions mourn your loss at this moment," even Eris seemed like she was taking his death extremely hard.

"Then... that's good," he sighed out, "It'll be safe for them now." Eris turned her head away for a moment, then looked back to him.

"As promised you've earned your one wish, your one wish for anything at all. Anything that you want will be given to you, no matter what it is."

"Anything?"

"Absolutely anything. You can wish for the peaceful life you always wanted, the happy life you always wanted for yourself."

"No," he shook his head.

"No?" She didn't know how to respond to that.

"I want you to give one wish each to my companions, the same kind of wish that you would have granted me." He looked up towards the ceiling, towards the light that had brought him to that world some time ago now. "I want them to know that even if I'm dead now, I'll always be with them. No matter what they go through, I'll be there."


	36. Chapter 36 - Epilogue

**...Epilogue...**

"Aurdel!" He wasn't able to get a single word in before he was tackled down to the ground by his large group of companions, each one overjoyed to see him again.

"You know those wishes were supposed to be for you guys, I didn't want you to waste them on me."

"Don't say that," Yunyun said looking him dead on with tears in her eyes, "It wasn't a waste because you know how much you even to us, to all of us. If it means seeing you again then it isn't a waste at all." She pressed her face into his chest, "You especially mean a lot to me, I don't think I'll let go until you promise me that you'll never do something like that again."

"Yeah," Anatalia added, "You've done too much for all of us for you to simply go like that." Darkness and Megumin nodded along with her.

"Alright alright, I promise I won't do anything like that again," he patted Yunyun on the head. "But I have to ask then, who was the one that wished to have me revived?"

Darkness looked a little in disbelief with her answer, "Well, it was Aqua who wished for it."

"Seriously?" He looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes seriously you big idiot!" She shouted at him, "What kind of Goddess would I be if I let you die?" She playfully punched his shoulder

"Oh come here you blue idiot," he dragged her in and gave her a noogie on the head, then he let her go.

"So, what happens now?" He asked, "You said that you wanted to stay here, and that wish was really your only chance for you to do that."

"It just means that I'll have to go back to heaven, I don't really have a choice in that," she said somberly. But then she piped up, "But no matter what happens, I had fun the whole time that I was here! And I couldn't have had that fun if it wasn't for you dragging me here with you."

"So no hard feelings?"  
"Of course there's hard feelings! You dragged me here without giving me a chance to prepare," Aurdel raised a brow, "Oh I'm just kidding! You really need to learn to be able to pick up on jokes" He let out an exasperated laugh and shook his head, but he still had a grin on his face.

"Hey, Aurdel," Megumin tugged on his sleeve, "Is Aqua really a Goddess? You always said that she's not a Goddess or just mocked her, but just now you said that she would have to go back to heaven. What is she really?"

"Yes, I'd like a solid answer to that question too," Darkness said. "It's been bothering me for quite some time."Aqua looked at him.

"Well, yeah, she's a Goddess. As much as I joked about her being a Goddess of debts or misfortune, or even that she was just pretending to be one, she actually is a Goddess," Aqua looked happy that he was finally telling the truth. "Honestly though I'm surprised you wouldn't realize something was off with her from the start. What normal Priest or even Archpriest is able to revive people several times? Or has a move called 'God Blow'? Or why the hell she vomits rainbows when she drinks too much?" They looked a little embarrassed hearing all that coming from him.

"We… we just thought she was crazy," Yunyun said.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Aqua pouted, "Just what kind of idea do you guys have of me?!"

"Well you are an Axis cultist after all," Megumin pointed out, "They're not exactly known for being the smartest or most sane people around."

"Don't insult my children like that!" Aqua protested and shook Megumin. "You can all start making up for your sins by buying me all the wine-!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," he stopped Aqua, "You may be a Goddess but in this party we're all equals."

"Yeah, well, whatever," she flipped her hair and pointed at him, "You better take care of Emperor Zell while I'm gone, he has to grow into the strongest and best Dragon the world has ever seen or else you'll get divine retribution!"

"Emperor who?"

"Emperor Zell! Don't you remember the Dragon egg that I bought and wanted to take care of?!"

"Moi sees that this evil Goddess refuses to accept the fact that the egg she purchased is mere poultry and not some mystical or divine beast."

"You damn Archdevil! I'll send you back to hell for insulting my Emperor Zell!" Aurdel held Aqua back as she tried to assault Vanir.

"Fuhaha! A font of emotions as always, moi must say that today truly was a treat compared to others. Moi does not regret coming along for this battle."

"Does that mean you came here just because you know that I would die during the battle? And that my companions would be devastated as a result of my death?"

"Of course, moi is a diviner." Aurdel let Aqua go in order to chase Vanir around the battlefield. Seriously. He understood that he was a Devil but some things were just too far.

It took some time but Aqua eventually did come back from her chase, stopping tired and panting while shaking her fist at Vanir in the distance. "Say Aqua, I have one other question. You were the one that revived me, right?"

"Well yeah of course I did, didn't I tell you that?"

"No you did, but… I have to ask since you were the one that did. Why am I about a head shorter than I was before and why do I physically feel younger? Like… about thirty years younger?"

"Oh, that wasn't me. That was her," she pointed at Yunyun, whose face had turned a beet red.

"W-well," she stammered out, trying to gain composure, "Y-you see… I just… I thought…"

"It's fine, you don't have to explain yourself. But I have to say this is certainly going to make some things awkward."

"Why's that?" Darkness asked.

"Well if we're going to talk about small things, I wanted to grow out a beard. Now I really can't," he stroked his chin. "As for major things, none of my gear is going to fit me now. I don't think I can even stand properly in this set of armor without tipping over and hitting the ground."

"I see… That is a problem. But I'm sure it's one that will be solved with time, just like any other problem that comes our way."

"Yeah I suppose you're right, but onto other things. So I know what Yunyun and Aqua wished for, but what about the rest of you?"

Megumin was the first to answer, "I wished for an infinite pool of mana!" She was proud in her answer, pointing her hand up towards the sky, "Now, I'll be able to fire off Explosion whenever I want, wherever I want and as powerful as I want!"

"I don't think you realize just how terrifying that is as an idea with how powerful it is now." He turned his head, "What about you Anatalia, what did you wish for?"

"I wished for peace in my country, for the war to end and for the sides to rejoin. As much as I love living here and being with all of you I do wish to bring my sister back to a peaceful Siberas at least one more time during my lifetime."

"That really is admirable, using your wish for the greater good," then something popped into his head. "By the way, did you specify how peace would occur and how the sides would rejoin?"

"No, why? I didn't think it was necessary at the time to specify, I just thought that the Gods would find the best way possible to do it."

Aurdel sighed, "No reason, I was just thinking about the possibility that we might have more on our plate in the future than we really expect. As for you…" He turned to Everest, finding her beak deep inside a large bucket eating something, "That's about what I expected." She raised her head with a fish still hanging out of her beak and squaked, then went back to eating.

"What about me Aurdel? Aren't you going to ask me what I wished for?" Darkness asked.

"Frankly? No. I'm practically afraid to even ask what you wished for."  
"A-afraid?" she stammered, "Why would you be afraid of what I wished for?"

"Because you're a masochist who tends not to have a good sense of judgement. Really I don't feel like being disgusted or verbally violated by whatever insane manner of thing you decided to wish for."

"Your teasing is too much-"

"It's not teasing, it's the truth!"

"-But even I know the time and place for such things. I simply wished for the members of House Dustiness to be brought back to life. After all, it's a chance for me to reunite with my mother."

"Oh…" He felt a little ashamed of himself for pushing his idea of her so much, though he really couldn't blame himself for believing such things. Even though she said she knew 'the time and place for such things,' she really didn't. It was evidence enough that she considered him practically insulting her to be him just teasing her. "Besides that, can you guys help me take off this armor? As awkward as it is to ask that, it's a lot more awkward and uncomfortable to sit in this thing."

And so they helped him take off his armor, leaving him with only a baggy set of clothes that he had on top of the armor. He practically had to clutch it to his body just to make sure it didn't fall off with a sudden movement. If he was going to be honest, it was a little bit embarrassing. "So what now?" Megumin asked.

"Well, we'll…. We'll…" he lowered his head as he didn't provide an answer, "I, uh, don't really know what we're supposed to do now."

"You don't know what to do?" Darkness parroted.

"Well look, for almost all of my life there has been one war or another going on around me. And then for most of that life, I spent my time fighting in one of those wars. Even when I died for the first time on Reach I was flung into the war going on over here. If I'm going to be perfectly honest with all of you, peace time isn't exactly my forte." He felt a little ashamed in saying that, but there was really no other way to answer.

"I see…" Darkness trailed off, probably thinking of something. "Maybe we can celebrate our victory here? After all, it isn't every day that one defeats the ancient and cruel threat of the Demon King, a powerful and cruel foe willing to break women into submission and-"

"Jesus I got the point, you don't need to go any further. We can throw a party," he looked at Aqua, "But will we even have enough time? When do you have to go back to heaven?"

"I'm in no rush. Besides, there's one thing that I want to do before I leave here."

"And what's that?"

"I want to see you get completely drunk!" Huh…?

"It's settled then, we'll hold the celebration for the defeat of the Demon King in the capital!" Iris shouted, thrusting her sword into the air. There was a cheer of voices around them. Ah, well, it couldn't be so bad.

* * *

Yunyun had never seen such a large party before, the ones she'd been to were the ones she'd made and no one had bothered to show up to those besides her. But here there were so many people, each one of them having the time of their lives as they celebrated their great victory against the Demon King. "Chug chug chug chug!" Adventurers and Knights shouted, both Aurdel and Aqua were situated at a table near the head of the room where large barrels full of wine sat. Just like Aqua wanted him to do he was getting completely drunk, the two of them having a drinking contest. There were glasses and tankards scattered all over the table, some of them tipped over and some of them barely managed to sit up right. Either way it was really a sight to behold even if it was something Yunyun wasn't used to. At some point Aurdel gave up on using the cups and just picked up one of the barrels, drinking straight from it. Eventually there was a roar of cheers as he was eventually declared the winner, just barely beating out Aqua. But in the end it was clear that the both of them were completely drunk.

As out of the usual it all was, she couldn't be anything but happy. She spent most of the time at the party talking with Megumin and Iris since Darkness continuously refused to allow them to drink, with the only times they got any being the moments that Anatalia brought something over while she wasn't looking. But she did find that the three of them all had something in common, something only they knew. "Nature's Beauty!" Aqua let off one of her party tricks in celebration despite her loss. The day and the celebration went on without end, but eventually she was left alone at one of the tables sitting at the side of the room. Megumin had gone off to speak with her parents because of what Komekko had done and Iris went to catch up with her family, having spent so much time apart recently. She spent some time with her father, the chief, too, but it wasn't really how she wanted the day to go. She continued spending her time at the table, slightly less elated. Looking at all these people having fun made her feel like that there was something that she was missing.

It was at that moment that she realized what it was. The party shifted from an all out chaotic event to a slower but still happy one, most beginning to clear the main floor as others stepped out in pairs and began to dance. Music began to play as they danced around the room, each one locking arms with eyes with the other. She lowered her head, if only… "Yunyun, what are you doing sitting here all by yourself?" She looked up and saw a hand extended out towards her, "There's no reason to be off on the side like this, come on."

"R-really?!" Her face lit up.

"Of course really!" She grabbed his hand and he led the two of them onto the floor, where she noticed that there was an opening for them. It was like everyone else had been waiting for them to show up. She looked up and stared into his eyes, they were shining. It was almost like she was in a trance just in that moment. She'd only read of times like these in story books, it was completely unreal. They locked each other's arms as they danced around the floor, keeping in pace with each other, everyone around them and the music. "You know, I've only done something like this one other time in my life."

"R-really?" She stammered. It was almost unthinkable given the way that he moved, it was like he'd been practicing for a moment like this his whole life. But the look in his eyes said otherwise.

"Yeah, it was one night that I went out with Clementine. She said she'd always wanted to try dancing like this, and that since we were dressed for the occasion we might as well go. It was beautiful." She could tell what that sparkle in his eyes was, he was happy. He was really and truly happy. One might have thought that it was the alcohol getting to his mind but they would be wrong, this was different. There was a subtle warmth, one that you could only see if you got close and looked for yourself. "Yunyun, I know you've said it before but… do you really love me?"

"O-of course I do! Why wouldn't I? You're the only one that's ever treated me right, everyone else avoided me because I was different. But you welcomed me, made sure that I was happy."

"Well it's just that that makes me wonder, are you sure? I'm sure that people would treat you properly and with respect now because of all that you've done, you can-"

"No," she shook her head, "It may be true that they'll treat like they were supposed to, but they'll only do that because of what we accomplished. I don't want that, I don't want someone fake."

He let out a low hum and pressed his head against hers, her cheeks blushed red, "Then I suppose it can't be helped." Her heart felt like it was going to pound straight out of her chest right then and there, and if it wasn't for the fact that they were dancing then she would have frozen up right there too. So she followed every move that he made, not missing a beat. But she knew that he knew she was getting flustered."Come on, follow me," and as the dancing stopped for a moment he pulled her out, they ran towards one of the balconies.

"What are we doing?" She looked around, it didn't look like anyone else was nearby.

"You'll see," he said as he continued pulling her along. He pushed through the door to the balcony. The night sky was beautiful, there were more stars than she'd ever seen before. "I thought I'd set up a little something to celebrate our victory today."

"What are you…?" She looked out as she saw things shoot up from the ground and into the sky, before detonating into bright bursts of colors with designs.

"Fireworks, just like the ones that I fired off on the day that you joined the party and saved me. It's always good to make things go full circle," he brought her in for a hug

* * *

**AN: Thank you to everyone who stuck around for the whole of the story, the reviews you gave and the interest you showed kept me going forward. It's entirely possible that I may make an afterward story as I do have ideas, but in the future I plan to further in depth with Aurdel's backstory.**


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